


The Unpayable Debt

by siwa33



Category: Robin Hood (BBC 2006)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-07-15 23:10:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 35
Words: 45,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16073318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siwa33/pseuds/siwa33
Summary: Endgame.The outlaws find themselves up against formidable odds.Nothing new there then... but now they have Guy of Gisborne... and a certain somebody from Guy's past...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Now I know that series 3 is nobody's favorite but I always wished that there had been more scenes of Guy living and working together with the outlaws.  
> These were my thoughts as I started this story and well, before I knew it, this is what it became - another long one. 
> 
> Just as I had wished that series 2 could've ended differently (something I explored with my previous work - The Forgotten Keepsake) here I decided to do something with the series 3 finale.
> 
> The story begins just after series 3 episode 11, The Enemy of My Enemy and continues on through the two episodes that make up the end of the series, Something Worth Fighting For: Parts 1 and 2.
> 
> Disclaimer: all BBC Robin Hood characters and the show are the property of the BBC and Tiger Aspect Productions
> 
>  
> 
> Hey, I just want to say a big thank you to everybody who took the time to read and show their appreciation for my story, I can't tell you how great it is to receive feedback, be it kudos or comments - it really lifts me up you know?  
> Helps me keep going with my writing.  
> Cheers

I

**Endgame**

The explosion was so loud that it could be heard all over the county.

Tremors were felt as far as the outer lying villages, leading many to think that the end was near.  
Some thought that a malevolent creature such as a dragon would come and devastate their homes with hellfire.  
There were scenes of chaos everywhere as people hurriedly gathered together their family members and packed up their belongings, in readiness to flee from whatever demon would descend upon them.

Closer to Nottingham many had already long since left their homes; word had gotten round that Prince John’s men were descending on the town, indeed with their vast ranks and the frightening contraptions that they had brought with them they were not to be overlooked.

It had been obvious that they were not there for a friendly visit.

From the looks of things, they hadn’t received a friendly welcome either.

High on a nearby hill, two figures stood and looked upon the flaming ruins of what had been Nottingham.

“I hope they all managed to get out of there before the place went up…” one said quietly.

“Yeah, I hope so too.” The other replied.


	2. Chapter 2

II

**Earlier...**

Allan-a-Dale couldn’t remember the last time he had been this drunk.

He was standing at the privy of the Trip Inn trying to remain upright so that he could attend to the call of nature without spraying himself and the privy liberally with his own urine. So far, he had not managed it too well; the place looked as if someone had had a celebration of urine in there but he'd forgotten if that was his fault or if it had already looked that way upon his arrival. He shrugged, too drunk to care, then swayed heavily to the left before stumbling several steps forward towards the door. Luckily, he had enough presence of mind to pull up his trousers before he staggered back out into the fray.

He avoided looking around the room; he knew that he must look a state and figured if he didn’t look at anybody than perhaps it wouldn’t be so noticeable. He need not have worried; as it was, nobody took any notice - the other patrons were all well into their cups, and the sight of a drunkard was not an unusual one at the Trip.  
He took his seat and wondered where his drinking companion had gone. He figured she must also have gone to the privy. He didn’t know how long he had been sitting there; it could have been ten minutes, it could have been an hour, before it occurred to him that she had been gone an awfully long time.  
Had he already said goodbye to her? He didn’t recall doing so but then he couldn’t recall much of what had gone on that evening and so it was difficult to say. He called over a serving wench in the hope that she would know what had happened to his drinking partner. He was not particularly coherent so it took a while for the girl to understand what exactly it was he was trying to ask her but she eventually understood and informed him that his companion had indeed left. He frowned. He couldn’t for the life of him remember her leaving…

 _Oh well, time for another ale!_  
He reached into his pocket to discover that he was practically skint.  
_Oh dear._  
Had he really drank so much?  
Yes, of course he had.

He had a bad feeling about this somehow. Something wasn’t right but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was and as much as he tried to remember the details of his evening to give him clues about that something, he just couldn’t manage it.  
He was about to order another ale when he realised, once again, that he was too skint to pay for one.

Ah yes! That was what was not right! How could he be so broke? Had he paid for all the drinks? Even if he had, he’d had a fair sum on him so how could he be so out of pocket? He racked his brain to try to remember what he had done with his money but all to no avail, he just couldn’t remember.

_Well this is brilliant innit?: no money, no ale, no girl..._

_  
HANG ON A MINUTE...!_


	3. Chapter 3

III

“So you mean to tell me you were robbed?”

Robin Hood was livid.

Allan squirmed. “Look I’m sorry, she got me blindin’ drunk alright?”

“She? So it was a woman?” Robin’s eyes bugged, he couldn’t believe he was hearing this. “So let me get this straight Allan, a woman got _you_ drunk and robbed _you_ – of all people!?”  
The more Robin thought about this, the worse it got.

Allan nodded unhappily. He had been dreading this conversation for days but had somehow managed to avoid the subject. Alas, the moment to confess had arrived.

“Allan, in case you hadn’t noticed, _we_ rob other people, _we_ are outlaws who rob the rich to give to the poor!”

Robin looked over at the rest of his merry men to see if they were feeling as merry as he currently was. Much looked appropriately outraged, Kate was pulling her face in that wonderful way that she always did, Little John was gruffly grumpy as was his custom, Tuck was alternating between looking soberly concerned and faintly amused and Gisborne smirked. A lot.

“Look I’ll get it back alright? She probably does this all the time… I’ll go back to the Trip and…”

“Lose some more money!?” Gisborne couldn’t resist getting a dig in.

“This isn’t funny you know.” Kate couldn’t either.

Gisborne walked away. As much as he liked winding her up, he couldn’t bear to go another round with her right now and if he heard so much as one more word about her brother, he didn’t know if he’d be able to restrain himself.

Robin sighed. Why did he even bother?  
“Allan. Do your worst. If you think you can get the money back then do it. Just go…”

Allan didn’t need telling twice. He had barely taken a step though before Kate decided put her oar in,  
“Take ‘im with you whilst yer at it.” She gestured towards Gisborne.

At first, the Knight looked deeply unimpressed with this suggestion but then upon reflection perhaps it wasn’t such a bad idea after all; Allan was certainly better company than Kate - for Gisborne anybody was.

“An excellent suggestion, I could do with an ale.” Another dig…

“You’re not going for the ale!” She was so easy to bait…

Gisborne smirked and waved her off before turning on his heels and following Allan in the direction of the Trip.

Robin sighed again. He could do with an ale too if he was honest.

 

* * *

 

Allan knew he shouldn’t laugh but after a few ales he found it hard to do any other.

Gisborne was laughing too now, which was quite something considering the circumstances.  
God knows there were enough reasons not to laugh at the moment: He had attempted to assassinate Prince John and was an outlaw, his sister Isabella was Sheriff of Nottingham and wanted him dead, he had killed Marian - the woman he loved, something that he could never forgive himself for and on top of that, a young woman who had cared for him had sacrificed her life so that he should live; poor lovely Meg had died in his arms with his kiss fresh upon her lips.

On the upside, Vaisey was dead and that chapter of his life was over. He had learned the truth of his parents’ death, and of his mother’s child with Malcolm of Locksley – his half-brother Archer. He and Robin had set their differences aside to rescue Archer from prison in York and they were now continuing to work together in the fight against Isabella.

He was alive. It was Friday night. He was sitting in the Trip Inn with Allan. The ale tasted good.

Oh yeah and Allan had been robbed. By a woman.

“Was she worth it Allan?”

“Sadly I don’t remember an awful lot…” Allan was laughing, it really was too ridiculous.

“Would you be able to recognise her again?” Gisborne was trying to be serious and failing, this was just too good.

“Aye, I reckon I would… she's a good lookin’ girl that’s for sure, long dark hair and nice err… you know...?” Allan made a lewd gesture.

Gisborne smirked. “No Allan, whatever could you mean?”

“Eyes.”

They both laughed.

“And she drank you under the table?” Cue sceptical look from Gisborne.

“Yeah really!” Allan couldn’t believe it either.

“Did you at least get to see her… eyes?” Gisborne quirked an eyebrow.

“Nah mate, wouldn’t have been in any state to appreciate them anyway.”


	4. Chapter 4

IV

If there was one thing you could rely on in Nottingham, it was that the guards were utterly crap.

This had not changed since Isabella had taken over. You could hand them outlaws on a silver plate and they would still somehow make a dog’s dinner out of it.

Luckily, this was just what Sarah had been counting on.  
She had seen Guy of Gisborne entering the Trip Inn and had considered him a good prospect for her evening’s plans but then she had seen Allan-a-Dale with him and knew that this was not going to be so easy - she had recently relieved the outlaw of a tidy sum of money and although he had been drunk, he would surely remember her.

Gisborne however was another story. She knew him of old but doubted that he would recognise her. She was much changed since their last meeting, not just in appearance but also in character, and from the looks of things so was he. She figured that so much had happened in the interim that it could hardly be otherwise. She was no longer the shy, self-conscious girl she had been, she could not afford to be; life had not been kind to her and she'd had to rise to meet many difficulties along the way, it had been a case of sink or swim, simple as that. As for her appearance, well, she was in a different business these days: plain dresses and aprons just wouldn't cut it; men needed something to look at after all.

Many would think her mad for she was currently considering doing. A few years back, she never would have dreamed of it herself. As she watched him, she willed herself not to lose her nerve.  
_Now or never Sarah. He’s just a man like any other. You can do this._  
She tried to trust her instincts instead of over analysing: something in her knew that it could work, she had done it often enough, she had charmed many men and had done very well out of it. And she possessed a certain vanity that made her desire to test herself: to see just how far she’d come since the days back when she had known him. The longer she watched him and egged herself on, the more she knew she would go through with it.

What sealed the deal was remembering what she had been hearing about the Master of Arms of late; that he had changed sides, he was with the outlaws now, with Robin Hood no less... (and Allan-a-Dale, obviously). There were rumours that he'd killed the Sheriff and of course it was well known that he had tried to kill Prince John at his coronation and that the Prince had nearly had his head for it. Fortunately, Robin Hood had saved him and now he was working to help the people he had once persecuted. A strange turn of events to be sure but she had always known that he was more than just some monster, or lackey to the Sheriff; there was another side to him, a softer side...

Perfect for what she had in mind. If only she could somehow separate him from Allan…

 

* * *

 

For the guards it had seemed like Yule: A sure-fire tip - two outlaws drinking in the Trip, just sitting there waiting to be apprehended! And the tip had come from such a pretty girl too – bonus!  
What could go wrong?

Well, everything of course.

They had stormed in there, all gung-ho, swords at the ready etc. but they hadn’t reckoned with Bertie – the mascot of the Trip. He might only be a little dog but he can be quite vicious you know? The little fella almost bit Bob - their head honcho… and nobody likes killing doggies do they? On top of that, the Landlord had gotten quite irate with them, said they were putting folks off their ale and whatnot, well you don’t want to be doing that now do you?  
By the time they had remembered what they had gone in there for, the outlaws were long gone - so there was nothing left for it: they all apologised to everybody (especially Bertie) and went back to their duties.

 

* * *

 

Gisborne was standing in a back alley not far from the Trip wondering where Allan had got to. They had split up and scarpered sharpish upon being surprised by the guards in the Trip but had agreed to meet up afterwards in the alley. Gisborne had made it, Allan had not.  
Little did Guy know that Allan was slumped over unconscious only a few streets away. He had been in such an awful rush that he had run into a frying pan attached to Sarah’s hand, poor soul.

Gisborne was surprised, but not in an unpleasant way, to see that instead of Allan, an attractive young woman was approaching him.

“You shouldn’t hang around here you know, I hear there are outlaws abroad.” She smiled sweetly but her eyes were pure wicked mischief. Guy was never one for gaping at a woman but in that moment, he had to resist the urge to do so.

She was lovely.

_Long dark hair… and very nice… eyes…_

_WAIT A MINUTE!_

Guy was very good at schooling his features, a lesson he had learned well in his years of service to Vaisey, and so he had no problem hiding his surprise whilst realising that the lady approaching him, was Allan’s ‘friend’ from the other evening in the Trip.  
“You would do well to take your own advice mi ’lady” He took a step towards her, primarily to get a better look at her but also to be ready in case she decided to leave.

“Well I was about to leave but then I saw you Sir Guy and I thought to myself that with you nearby, I should have nothing to fear from outlaws no?” She edged further towards him, wanting to get closer, looking him directly in the eyes as she said this and gently placed her hand upon his forearm. Her charm offensive had the desired effect, putting him momentarily off-balance. He took a deep breath to recover himself and as he did so he realised that he knew her from somewhere.

He brought his lips close to her ear, “Your face is familiar.” His voice was deep and enticing, she tried not to let this affect her, she knew him well and her reactions to him. She decided to turn the tables on him, turning her face to his, moving her lips exquisitely close to his ear and whispering,

“Oh I don’t think so Sir Guy, I should think that I am far beneath your notice…”

He tilted his head back, to look her directly in the eye. He couldn’t recall who she was, but one thing he did know from this display was that she was certainly a skilful seductress. She knew exactly what she was doing and despite the fact that he knew he was being played, he found it thoroughly enjoyable. Without breaking eye contact, he slowly slid one arm around her waist whilst reaching with the other behind him for his dagger… to find…

...that her fingers were already on it.

He froze.

For a split second, she could see the shock on his face before his lips descended on hers and he overpowered her, shoving her against the wall of the building behind her. He continued to kiss her hard to disorientate her, pulling her fingers from the dagger but what he didn’t know is that he had made a critical error: He may have stopped her from brandishing his dagger but he had not prevented her from twisting her other hand up inside her sleeve to where she had concealed her own.

He was now kissing her hungrily, his right hand entwined with her left, whilst becoming painfully aware of something pressing hard into his stomach: that something being her dagger firmly held there by her right hand. He broke the kiss looking down to find a smug smile upon her swollen lips.

“Quite a kiss you gave me there.” She whispered.

She had expected to see shock upon his face, shock or anger, perhaps confusion but instead she saw...

_...amusement? Yes, definitely amusement…_

The reason soon became clear to her as she felt his hand move slowly up her back pulling her closer to him then twisting to retrieve something inside his sleeve…

Oh Shit! He was making the same move she had just made!

And so there they were - locked in a tight embrace, she with a dagger to his belly and he with a dagger to her back. He smiled as smugly as she just had before pressing the softest of kisses to her lips.

“You like how I kiss Sarah? How about how I caress?”

He twisted the knife so it dug a little deeper into her back.

And with that, she knew the game was up.


	5. Chapter 5

V

The first thing Allan-a-Dale did upon waking from his involuntary slumber was reach into his pocket.  
The second thing he did was groan.  
_Again!_  
All his hard work lifting purses at the Trip that evening had been for nothing. He would have to go back to Robin empty handed yet again. Oh the irony! The money he had robbed had been robbed.  
He was never going to hear the end of this. Robin was going to lecture him, and Kate was going to pull her face at him and Gisborne was going to smirk at him, smug git that he is…  
_Wait a minute… Where is Gisborne?_

“Looking for something?”  
He startled and looked behind him to see the man in question stood there, arms folded across his chest with a very smug expression on his face. Allan wearily pulled himself to his feet, rubbed his sore head and looked unhappily at his companion.

“It’s happened again.” His voice was quieter than Gisborne had ever heard it before.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that Allan.” Guy was loving this, it was all he could do to keep his face straight.

“The money’s gone.”

“Again? Oh Allan…” Gisborne tried, he really did, but he just couldn’t contain himself. He turned his back to Allan and was trying to repress his amusement but it was so hard…

“Are you smiling?” Allan was not impressed. Not one bit. Gisborne’s body was shaking now, “Are you laughing? This is not funny you know! Robin is gonna kill me…”

“No he’s not…” After a brief interlude of trying to stifle his baritone rumbling laugh Gisborne turned back to face him, there was no point in trying to conceal it now, and it was not long before he was so far gone that he had tears in his eyes and he’d begun coughing from laughing so hard.

“He bloody is…” Allan had his head in his hands now, eyes closed, picturing the scene of his confession back at camp when he suddenly heard the sound of coins jingling somewhere very close to his ear. He opened his eyes to see Gisborne grinning broadly holding the bag of coins in front of his nose,

“No he’s not.”

 

* * *

 

“Come on Sarah, play nice now and apologise to Allan.”

Guy was in a very good mood. He knew he shouldn't be really: a certain somebody from his past had returned to steal from him which was not really a reason to be in a good mood but somehow the satisfaction in having remembered her and that he'd been able to out-trick her outweighed that.

As he looked upon her now he could only wonder at how the senses worked. What his eyes had not been able to recognise, (which was little wonder for she looked considerably different to how he'd last seen her), his nose had managed – as soon as he had breathed her in, it had clicked and he'd remembered who she was.  
He could also only wonder at the state of his sense of humour; it shouldn't be amusing to have a woman hold a dagger to your belly but that her mind worked like his! That she had done what he had been about to do!

And now here they were. Once upon a time it would have grieved him that a woman should try something like this with him but now for some reason he just couldn't feel like that at all.  
_Strange days Gisborne, strange days indeed._

She'd put up a struggle as he had tied her to a tree before going to fetch Allan. He had been briefly worried that someone might stumble upon her and free her but then again not all that worried: the only people who strayed around here were patrons from the Trip and they would be in no fit state to untie her and as for the guards – well, no need to worry there.

“I shall not apologise. How can I help it, if he goes running into my frying pan?”

Gisborne thought that he might fall in love with this woman. He brought a hand up to his face to try to conceal his mirth but Allan had seen it,

“I didn’t run into anything!”

“There now Allan, don’t you fret, I very nearly ran into her dagger, it seems that men are very clumsy around Sarah.”

“Well how about you free me then? And then nothing will happen to you.” She looked at him directly with her best puppy dog eyes. Guy very slowly took the few steps towards her, not breaking eye contact with her for a second, he raised his right hand to her cheek, ghosting his thumb over her cheekbone and then tilted his head down to place a feather light kiss just above her eyebrow. As he did this she made no move to resist, in the hope that he was about to grant her request.  
He then brought his lips lower so that they just grazed her ear and whispered:

“I’m sorry my sweet, but not a chance.”


	6. Chapter 6

VI

“You weren’t supposed to bring a woman back with you!” Kate was not being a welcoming host.

“She wanted to come! Didn’t you Sarah!? Couldn’t resist me it seems!” Guy was on excellent form this evening, not even Kate could bring him down. Sarah rolled her eyes, she stopped struggling with her bonds for the moment and plonked herself down upon the forest floor. Allan did the same nearby, he figured he might as well make himself comfortable for the show.

“You tied her up!”

“That’s to protect me from her; she can be very passionate.”

“Robin! Are you listening to this?”

Robin sighed and brought his hand up to rub his face in exasperation. Kate was looking at him with an aggrieved expression, one that he knew very well. Gisborne was standing there looking at his fingernails in a display of boredom but with a slight smile of amusement on his lips - one that said he knew he had scored a point. Tuck was wondering whether to intervene, John had long since left for bed, Much had decided to take refuge behind his pots and pans and Allan had descended into a fit of laughter.

This was camp life these days.

God knows what their ‘visitor’ must make of it.

He looked to the girl and was about to intervene but then something stopped him from doing so; he harbored a certain curiosity as to how long it would take for Gisborne's conscience to kick in and free her. Besides, she had stolen from Allan and so from him, something his ego did not take lightly - perhaps a short stay in the forest would give her something to think about.

 

* * *

 

Guy woke in the middle of the night and looked over to see how his captive was faring. She was facing away from him so all he could see was long dark locks cascading all the way down to the small of her back. She appeared to be sleeping soundly; she moved very little, curled up as she was at the foot of the tree she was bound to. He found himself staring at her back, taking in her form as best he could in the darkness. She was tangled in her clothes and the blanket he had given her but he could still get a pretty good view.

_It has been a while Sarah…_

He closed his eyes and recalled a time when she had lain thus beside him, her bare back to him, her long hair tumbling down the curves of her body. He had never liked to lie with a woman after he had bedded them but at that time – those dark days after Marian had jilted him at the altar he had not been himself. He had spent most of the time drowning his sorrows in drink and so much of what had happened back then remained hazy. Only at certain times did the images come back to him, times like now. She stirred in her sleep, rolling over to face him, whimpering briefly as her bonds snagged at her ankle but then settling back into a dreamless sleep.  
He continued to watch her, his eyes taking all of her in and more images appeared to him, images of their couplings, images of her beautiful body under his…  
He should turn his back to her he knew; he was becoming obviously aroused and if there was one thing he never wanted to be caught doing in camp, it was pleasuring himself. Christ, he could just imagine the grief he would get from Kate about something like that…  
_OK Gisborne... Turn your back now… Come on, stop messing about…_  
He knew he should but he didn’t want to. She was so beautiful, when would he get the chance to have somebody so beautiful so close to him again?

She moved slightly and the movement drew his attention to her wrists. He could see that they were a mess – full of cuts and abrasions, he presumed that she had done this trying to free herself from the ropes the day before. His eyes then drifted down to her ankle, which was looking much the same, she must have been trying to free herself as he had slept.  
As he took in more and more of the damage she had inflicted upon herself he began to feel guilty. It was after all, his fault that she was here - he should have let her go, they had gotten the money back, what exactly was he trying to achieve with this?  
_I guess you haven't changed all that much Gisborne: holding a woman captive, not exactly a step in the right direction is it?_

On impulse, and before he really knew what he was doing, he slid out of his bedroll and went to kneel beside her. He pushed up her sleeve and took one of her wrists in his hand to examine it closely: it looked very sore, swollen and painful. He spent a long time kneeling there, looking at her wrists, and all the while, he felt terrible - how could he do this to her? Ok, she had stolen the money and she had even threatened him with a dagger but had she not paid for that now?

Then at some point, he made a decision.  
He scanned the camp to see if any of the others were awake, then upon seeing that all was quiet and before he could talk himself out of it, he reached down to her ankle and freed her from her bonds. He then gently scooped her into his arms and began to walk in the direction of the river.  
This of course woke her up.  
She struggled in his arms but he shushed her with a kiss before bringing his lips close to her ear.  
“Patience Sarah, we’re just going to get you cleaned up and then you can be on your way ok?”

For once, Sarah Smith was speechless.


	7. Chapter 7

VII

“The outlaw life seems to suit you Sir Guy.”

The Knight had carried Sarah down to the river, gently set her down at the riverbank and was now dabbing at her injured wrists with a wet cloth. He stopped briefly with his ministrations to give her a sceptical look.

“Really!” she was smiling but had to wince as he dabbed at a particularly painful spot. “You’re much more…”

“Sober?” he offered,

“Tender.” He looked positively baffled at this insight of hers. He continued dabbing.

“You can spare me the flattery Sarah, I don’t have any money.” His voice was hard - much more the tone of voice she was used to hearing from him.

“I know. I saw that the moment we got here.” She replied. He nodded, it was a bit of a come down since the last time she had seen him and that was putting it mildly.

“I had a knife at your back yesterday and I’m responsible for this.” he gestured to her injured wrists “I would hardly call that tender.” She had to agree but figured that calling him out on the events of yesterday, (his tying her up and bringing her to the forest – certainly not something she'd been happy about), were not going to get her out of there any quicker and so decided to not go there.

“But now you are letting me go and…” her voice trailed off. He raised his eyes to hers to find that a nervous expression had taken over her features: she was young but at that moment looked younger than ever.

“And…?” he prompted.

“And you never used to kiss me.” She looked to the floor blushing and so did not see the amusement that flashed in his eyes before it gave way to the emotion that seemed to follow him like a shadow these days; regret.

“Sarah, I know that I wasn’t good to you.” He did not remember much but he knew enough of his behaviour at the time to know that he had been an absolute brute. He could feel his face burning with shame.

“Ah well, being jilted at the altar will do that to a man I suppose. It’s not really an event to make a tender lover out of a man is it?”

Guy sighed. He wished the ground would swallow him up. Her being nice about it just made him feel worse.

_Oh yes, you might feel wretched Gisborne - you should..._

For a long time they sat there in silence, both lost in their thoughts before he cleared his throat and looked down to the hem of her skirt. “Show me your ankle.”

She blushed; it seemed such a personal request, which was strange for he had seen far more of her body in the past but somehow now it was different. She smiled nervously and moved her foot towards him. He lowered himself so that he could push her skirts a little way up her calf to get a look at the damage, but before he reached out to touch her, he looked up at her; silently asking permission. She blinked once to signal her assent. He then very gently took her foot in his hand to get a closer look at her injuries.

It was all she could do at that moment to stop herself from closing her eyes to savour his touch. The look he had just given her had made her chest tighten and now his fingers were so soft upon her…

“We need to clean this as well, it’s a mess.” He looked up at her ruefully. “It should heal well though, once we’ve got it clean that is.” He leaned over to reach for the cloth, scrambled over to the water’s edge to wet it through and then very slowly and gently began dab at her ankle. Despite his care not to press too hard, she jolted as the cloth made contact with her ankle, hissing in pain.

He released her foot instantly, his eyes full of concern.

She looked down upon him once the pain had receded and began to laugh. She just couldn’t help it. The situation was so strange that she could do no other.

Was this the same man? He was so altered she could hardly recognise him. If somebody had told her a few days ago that Guy of Gisborne would be looking after her like this; gently cleaning her wounds, taking such care not to hurt her, she would never have believed it for a second. And yet here he was…

“What?” He looked offended. She smiled: now that was familiar; he always had been quick to take offense.

“I’m sorry Guy; I just can’t get over how different you are now.” He scowled. He had always been quick to dismiss compliments as well. He continued with the job in hand trying not to dwell on her words as he did so.

She watched him enraptured. He had always had a certain hold over her. She remembered the first time she had seen him, she could not believe that somebody so beautiful existed. She knew that beautiful was not a word commonly used for men but she could not find a better one to describe him. She had been so young and the sensations she had felt had been so new, so foreign, so overwhelming - she had not been able to understand what was happening to her. At first, she had been unable to look at him and had taken pains to keep her distance. She had been terrified that he could see what he was doing to her, how he was making her feel. She had been an innocent in every way back then, a child, a girl, a maiden.

Of course, it didn't last.

She knew she should've been repulsed by his manner, his drunken boorish behaviour and his destructive self-pity but who could see such a beautiful creature in such pain and not wish to relieve it's suffering? _What a fool you were Sarah, to fall for such a man... …and oh, how you fell..._

“Guy?”

“Hmm?” He didn’t look up, merely carried on cleaning her wounds.

“I have something to confess.” Her voice was mischievous; he inwardly groaned wondering what it was she was going to make him feel uncomfortable about now. He looked up and tried not to look too impatient with her.

“Yes?”

“I can’t leave. I don’t know the way out of here.” She lowered her head and then looked up at him from under her lashes, using her big beautiful dark brown eyes to full pleasing effect, giving him a look to make men weak. “Maybe you could show me the way back?”

He smiled. He knew exactly what she was doing. He decided to play along. “Well I could…”

“But…?”

“Well… it would cost you.” His look was as ‘innocent’ as her own. She sighed. She had an idea what was coming. She quirked an eyebrow.

“What do you want Guy?”

“Well let me see…” He brought his attention away from her ankle now to draw level with her, tilting his head so that now his eyes were the ones being displayed to full pleasing effect. “…how about a kiss?”

She rolled her eyes.

_Not bad Gisborne! Could’ve been a slap!_

He was looking at her with a certain nonchalance, as if what he was proposing was not something he wanted fervently but he did not fool her - she could see how much he wanted it. That he was pretending otherwise amused her greatly.

She nodded.

He smiled and no sooner had his lips found hers that she felt a smirk of triumph against her lips. She was briefly irritated by this but what he did after that left no room for irritation whatsoever: He kissed her so slowly and gently that she found herself melting. His lips worshipped the upper bow of her mouth and when he tilted his head to do the same for her bottom lip as well, she realised that she was gone; he had her now – she had never experienced a sweeter kiss in all her life.

He slid his fingers all the way up her back, with one hand sliding forwards to cup her jaw and cradle her face, the other resting at the nape of her neck pushing her closer so his mouth could take more of hers. He continued to be gentle: this was not the hungry demanding kiss he had forced upon her yesterday as he’d disarmed her, with his lips pressing hard, angry and insistent upon hers – no, this was something else, something much more like a beginning he hoped, a kiss to make her want more of his kisses and maybe more besides…

He broke the kiss to look down at her and the expression on her face was just as he had hoped. He dipped in for another but she stopped him. He sighed; she might have been holding back but her lips told him another story - there was no hiding the sweetly satisfied smile upon them.

“Can’t blame a man for trying…,” he whispered huskily, pressing a soft kiss upon her temple before releasing her from his embrace. She smoothed down the front of her dress and adjusted her mussed-up hair.

“So now you will show me the way back.”

It wasn’t a question.

“Ah… well, now that you mention it, we might have a small problem there…” Why did that not surprise her? She was annoyed but not surprised. No, she might have guessed that when it came down to it he wouldn’t keep his word.

“You had no intention of letting me go did you?” Her face darkened, all sweetness gone.

“I did... I do... You are free to go... You can go anytime.” He leant back and raised his arms in submission, “And I promise I would show you the way if I could, but that’s the problem; I can’t. Maybe during the daytime I could, but not now, in the dark, I haven’t been staying here long enough. Ask Allan if you don’t believe me, he’ll tell you but I wouldn’t go waking him right now – I don’t think he will appreciate it…”

She studied him closer, trying to discern if he was telling the truth.

“Look I promise if you wait until light we will take you back; you have my word.”

“You said before you would show me the way!” She was still angry.

“I know and I will, I just didn’t say when…” He bit back his amusement at her frown, God she was sweet, so sweet he just had to taste her again. “Sarah please, it is the middle of the night, let us go and sleep for a few hours and then we’ll see about getting you home yes?” He held out his hand to her. She sighed and reluctantly took it.

“Good girl.” He smiled at her but received no smile in return. He shrugged and walked her back to camp.


	8. Chapter 8

VIII

“Robin! Have you seen this?”

Guy of Gisborne woke from a pleasant slumber to the shrill tones of Kate’s voice. Not a good start to the day to be sure. “Good Morning Kate.” He greeted unhappily.

His bedfellow shifted beside him, nuzzling into him as if to hide away from the commotion.  
“Good Morning Sarah.” He whispered, placing a kiss on the top of her head. He heard a muffled reply and then felt a press of lips upon his bare chest.

“Bloody Hell! How does he do it?” Guy couldn’t see who it was but the voice could only belong to Allan.

“Morning Allan!”

Allan could practically hear the smirk.

“Good morning everybody! Oh!” Gisborne could see Much backing away from the scene looking somewhat put out.

Kate stormed over to their leader who was as surprised as everyone else. “This really is the last straw Robin! He’s bedded her! He brings her here tied up and now he’s forced himself on her!”

Guy scowled. He didn’t even deem that comment worthy of a retort. He raised his arms up and away from Sarah as if to demonstrate that he wasn’t holding her down or forcing her in any way. Sarah merely snuggled closer to him murmuring that it was too early and that blondie should shut it. Guy looked to Robin and gestured to the girl as if to say ‘you see?’

“Err… Kate, it doesn’t look as if he has forced her to do anything.”  
Kate pouted. Gisborne gave her a look that could best be described as ‘cat that got the cream’.

“Christ Giz! You are really gonna have to tell me how you do that!” Allan was laughing now.

“Indeed - a most unusual way of procuring a lady’s affections.” Tuck chuckled.

Guy laughed softly, stroking Sarah’s hair and then whispered in her ear that it was time for them to get up before the whole camp congregated around his bed. Too late, for now Little John had appeared as well and was surveying the scene, muttering grumpily about how the camp was becoming more and more like the Trip Inn. Gisborne resented the comment but wisely held his tongue; he merely waved the big man off, knowing that if John had had the chance of female company he wouldn’t have declined either.

Sarah looked up at Guy overwhelmed by the all the people crowding around them. Tuck noticed this. “Alright everybody, perhaps we should give the Lady some space.” Guy looked gratefully to the Friar.

“Lady! She’s no Lady!” It seemed Kate wasn’t ready to let it go. Guy was up and out of the bed like a shot, with his hot temper he could not endure insult to himself or anybody he cared about and certainly not from Kate. Luckily for Kate, Robin blocked the way.

“You say one more word Kate… one more word…” Guy was furious.

“Calm down Gisborne.” Robin was not angry, he was too used to these scenes between them by now, but his voice betrayed a hint of threat.

“Kate isn’t it?” Everybody suddenly turned to see Sarah standing next to Guy’s bed. She was dressed in her chemise and underskirt, her hair all mussed up. Guy thought she looked adorable. Her eyes were fixed firmly on the blond. She slowly walked over towards Guy, gently placing her hand on his forearm, her eyes still on Kate, seemingly unimpressed by her and the argument that was going on. Kate was uncharacteristically quiet all of a sudden.

“Look Kate, it seems we have got off on the wrong foot here, I appreciate that my behaviour appears not particularly ladylike…” Guy was about to interrupt, not willing to give Kate that much but Sarah squeezed his arm to stop him from interfering “But then again if it is good enough for you…” she trailed off, looking pointedly from Kate to Robin, smiling sweetly as she did so. She looked back to Kate to see her blush bright red and then said no more; her work was done here.

Kate stormed off in a huff. Robin was chuckling shaking his head. Guy beamed at her. Sarah casually sauntered back towards the bedroll as if nothing had happened. Everybody else took this as their cue to get on with their day.

Guy sneaked up behind her, sliding his fingers over her waist and then gently pulling her into his embrace. She leant back into him, enjoying his touch. He kissed her once on the eyebrow before whispering breathlessly in her ear:

“Marry me.”

She burst out laughing.

 

* * *

 

Contrary to what everybody in camp believed, Gisborne had not bedded Sarah.

Well, not in the carnal sense of the word anyway. He had come very close to it, he had very much wanted it but in the end, he had not made love to her. He had coaxed her into his bed with a goodnight kiss, he had then lavished her with many goodnight kisses, he had undressed her, touched her and tasted her with every intention of taking her but no, he had not done it.

It was the atmosphere that had made his mind up for him perhaps: less romantic lovemaking atmosphere, and more forest camp, sleeping, snoring, farting outlaws atmosphere. Not sexy. There was nothing else for it: he would have to get his own pad, he thought for the millionth time since he had moved to camp.

Little did he know that it was this very thing that had made Sarah especially fond of him now. Once upon a time Guy had not been so attentive to her wishes and needs. He had not thought of her pleasure or even of her comfort, he had only seen to his own release and then cast her aside like an unwanted plaything.  
She wondered what could have happened to him to change him so. She had heard many rumours about him: that he had gone mad upon returning from the Holy Land, that he had killed the Sheriff and that he had nearly killed Robin Hood at one point as well. None of this seemed to tally with the man who had just spent the night kissing her breathless or with the situation he was currently in – living here in the forest with the men he used to hunt.  
Sarah would very much like to discover what had happened but knew that sadly, she was not going to be sticking around long enough to find out.


	9. Chapter 9

IX

“Where are we off to all of a sudden?” Robin had noticed that Guy, Allan and Sarah were just about to head out of camp.

“We’re taking her home.” Guy replied, trying not to sound at all dejected.

“No wedding bells then Gisborne?” Robin chuckled; he enjoyed a getting dig in as much as the next man.

“I did ask her!” Guy scowled.

“Was that before or after the err… honey?” Much asked. Gisborne had no idea what he was going on about but didn’t have chance to ask for he was interrupted by the sound of Little John laughing.  
Yes, really - Little John laughing. That got Robin going as well. Gisborne wondered if perhaps they were all going a bit strange.

“It’s a euphemism.” Much added, as if this explained everything.

“He means did you ask her before or after you f…..”

“Thank you Allan!” Robin quickly interrupted, thinking of their guest.

Allan shrugged and then looked at Sarah. “Come on then, let’s get you home.”

“Not so fast!” Robin took a few steps towards the departing group, “What's the rush? How about we have a little chat first?”

Guy felt possessive all of a sudden, he didn’t like this - he didn’t want her to leave but then he didn’t want Robin paying any attention to her either. “Locksley, I said I would take her back, I gave her my word.”

“Did you? Well last I looked this was my camp and I like to have a chat with the people who visit it so if you don’t mind Gisborne…” Robin gestured that Guy should make himself scarce. Guy was furious and gave him a look that could cut through bone, that is until he felt a hand upon his forearm and looked down to see the object of his affections smiling up at him. She held his gaze for a few seconds and he calmed down. Satisfied that he was now in control of his anger, she then looked to Robin, her expression was one of curiosity but also impatience; she didn’t want to chat, what she wanted was to go home.

Robin gestured to a clearing near the camp, his smile was an attempt at reassurance but she was having none of it – she merely nodded at him and walked in the direction he indicated, looking over her shoulder to give Guy a small smile before she disappeared from view.

Robin cut straight to the chase as soon as they were out of earshot: “I think you’ve got some explaining to do mi ‘lady.”

“Explaining?” She quirked an eyebrow.

“You robbed one of my men.”

“Yes I did.” He waited for her to say more but she did not.

“And… don’t you have anything to say about that?”

“No. I steal money. That’s what I do. I offer no explanation for there is none.”

“Allan, like the rest of us here, robs the rich to give to the poor...”

“I know.”

“So if you steal from Allan, you steal from the poor…”

“Yes.”

“And you can live with that can you?”

“Yes.”

This was not how he had expected the conversation to turn out. He was Robin Hood - when he demanded an explanation he usually got one and so it put him completely off balance to be confronted with somebody so… uncooperative. Looking at her though, he never would have thought it. ‘Could charm the birds from the trees’ is how Allan had described her and he hadn’t been wrong; with her long dark hair, big doe eyes, slight figure and delicate features, she looked positively angelic – who would’ve thought that she could be so difficult?

“Why did you do it?”

“Why does anybody do it?”

“I just told you why we do it.”

“Yes. I heard you.”

This was infuriating. Robin was used to being treated with deference, this woman was not only not doing that, she was stubbornly refusing to answer his questions.  
“Look that money you stole…”

“He has it.”

“Yes but…”

“We are quit are we not?”

“No we are not!” Robin was angry now. “You might be able to twist Gisborne round your little finger but I want to know why you think it is ok to rob from my men and in doing so take money that is meant for the poor.”

She remained unimpressed by this flare of temper. “I have my reasons to steal, as do you. I have people who depend on me, as do you. The only difference is that if one of your men is robbed, then the others still deliver. If I do not deliver then nobody does.”

Robin opened his mouth but then closed it again. She had him there. He couldn’t argue with that logic. All he could do is stare at her as he considered what she had just said.  
She could tell by the way he was looking at her that he was trying to figure her out, as if her appearance would give him some clue as to how to understand her. As much as she could commend him for the attempt, she was growing impatient now – she wanted to leave and she was about to tell him so when he interrupted her:

“Maybe we can help you.” His voice was softer now that he had calmed down but she still found his arrogance astounding.

“I don’t need your help. I do just fine on my own.”

“I can see that.”

“Good.”

“That was sarcasm.” He took a step towards her. “Look, you might have fooled Allan but what if Gisborne had really forced himself on you? You wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

“I know.”

“You know?” Robin’s eyes widened and he was looking intently at her now. “He didn’t…” He looked horrified.

“No. He didn’t. But the point you’re making is that if he had wanted to, he could have. I know this.”  
She certainly did. Guy had never raped her, she had wanted him and allowed him to bed her and she had wanted to please him but he had not been a considerate lover to say the least. There had been a number of times that in his drunken state he had not been aware of how strong he was and she had then found herself on the sharp end of rough handling from him – a far cry from the tender kisses and caresses of the night just past.

“What you are doing is dangerous. What if it goes wrong? What if somebody attacks you? What will you do then?”

“I have no choice.”

“You do! You do! Everything we do is a choice! Let us help you! If you or your family needs help…” He trailed off for she had turned her back to him, he could see that he had hit a nerve there and she was trying to compose herself. He was about to continue speaking, to try to make her understand the truth in what he was saying but then he noticed Gisborne approaching and knew the moment to convince her had passed.

The Knight looked suspiciously at Robin and then with concern at Sarah, he went straight to her, taking her hands in his, “Everything alright?” he whispered in her ear. She nodded and smiled to reassure him.

“She’s fine Gisborne; I don’t make a habit out of intimidating women.” Robin fixed him with a pointed look and Guy knew that he was now referring to his treatment of Marian. Guy swallowed hard and said nothing to this - he knew very well that when it came to Marian and all that he had done to her, he really couldn’t say anything at all.

“Can I go now?” Sarah turned back to face Robin now, her voice was soft, her eyes pleading with him, she had no desire to continue their discussion from earlier, she just wanted to go. Robin nodded.

“Thank you.” She bowed her head and then turned on her heels to leave.

“Think over what I said mi ’lady.” Robin yelled after her but she was already walking off and her only response was to raise one hand to signal that she had heard him before she disappeared from view. Gisborne was about to turn to go but Robin stopped him: “Gisborne…”

“Don’t worry; I’ll keep an eye on her.” Gisborne looked directly at his former enemy. Robin blinked once and nodded. They understood each other.

“Good talk Gisborne.”

“Yeah.”


	10. Chapter 10

X

“Bloody hell Giz! Are you going to let her come up for air any time soon?”

Allan-a-Dale was getting bored now. He knew how it was saying goodbye to a lady and he couldn’t really fault Guy for finding it difficult to part from one so lovely as Sarah but it was pretty boring just standing round waiting for your mate to finish smooching.

Guy grunted in frustration at Allan’s impatience but did not cease with his amorous attentions, on the contrary, he pulled his lady closer, kissing her harder, in defiance of his sidekick. Sarah giggled and then gently disengaged her lips from his, “Guy, we can’t do this all day,” she whispered.

“We can.” He didn’t miss a beat before kissing her again and despite her smile against his lips, he sensed she was not going for it. He sighed and then with a last gentle kiss just below her ear pulled away but not before looking at her in a way that made her decidedly unsteady on her feet and whispering huskily: “Another time?”

Her answering smile left him in no doubt.

 

* * *

 

 

“Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you.” Emma Smith had been worried sick about Sarah, it wasn’t like her older sister to go disappearing off like that and she had feared the worst. Sarah smiled apologetically before pulling her younger sibling into a tight hug.

“I’m sorry Emma. I didn’t mean to worry you. I ran into a group of outlaws and there was a misunderstanding about some money.”

“Must have been quite a misunderstanding for them to keep you out all night…” Sarah was about to interrupt but Emma continued, “…and for that tall, dark, handsome man to err… be so friendly with you like that.”

_OH!!!!!_

Emma’s grin was something to behold.

“You saw that huh?” Sarah felt her cheeks burning red hot and she could not raise her eyes to meet those of the highly amused teenager sitting opposite her.

“Oh yes! Half the bloody street did I shouldn’t wonder!” Emma was loving this - her big sister was so mortified that she hadn’t even told her off for cussing.

_There goes the neighbourhood Sarah, first kissing strange men on the doorstep and then what?_

“So err… what’s he like then, my new big brother?”

“Emma!”

Emma could scarcely remember ever laughing so hard and so long as she did upon seeing her sister’s face at that moment – seeing Sarah like this was a pleasure she seldom tasted and it was so very sweet.

After a while, Sarah got over her mortification and found that she could laugh about it too, which was a good thing for heaven knows they hadn’t had much to laugh about of late.

 

* * *

 

 

Before Ben Smith died, he got himself into debt.

A certain man, Tim Sullivan was his name, had persuaded Ben to lend him some money. Ben had always been a kind man and upon hearing of the other man’s tale of woe; that his daughter had fallen ill and needed medicine, he had not hesitated to lend him money, after all, he was father to two daughters himself.

Sadly, this was a mistake.

Tim Sullivan, if that was even his name, had no ill daughter. He took the money he had received from Ben, split it 50/50 with another man and then left Nottingham. The other man, Henry Dartford, then sought out Ben Smith and began to make his life a misery.

Dartford claimed that Tim Sullivan owed him a substantial sum of money and that he had come to collect it from Smith, as he and Sullivan were business partners. Ben protested that they were nothing of the sort - he had merely helped the man to buy some medicines for his daughter. Henry of course, did not believe him and insisted that Smith pay up.

Sullivan never did show up to resolve the ‘misunderstanding’ and Dartford became ever more intimidating when it came to collecting the money ‘owed’ to him.

Poor Ben Smith went on to pay for several years and all the while, his protests to the powers that be in Nottingham fell on deaf ears. As it turned out, the Sheriff just happened to be good friends with Dartford.

When Ben Smith eventually died, (the stress he had been under for so long had taken it’s toll on his health and his heart failed), Dartford made sure that the ‘debt’ passed on to his daughters.

Ben’s eldest daughter Sarah had helped her father in raising the money those last years of his life, taking whatever jobs she could - one of which had been as a maid at Locksley for Sir Guy of Gisborne. She had not stayed long. Upon learning the fate of a woman named Annie who had also worked for Gisborne, Sarah had decided it was time to find a different occupation.

She did learn one thing from her time at Locksley though – that she had the power to attract and charm men, and in particular to charm money out of them. Stealing from them was merely the natural progression from that. In this respect, Sir Guy was more responsible for the person Sarah had become than he could ever know.

Sadly, despite the fact that Sarah was able to regularly pay the debt, it never seemed to lessen.

She had been to see the new Sheriff about the matter but had not been granted an audience. It seems that the new Sheriff is as deaf and preoccupied as the old.

Her childhood had ended much too soon: forced to yield to the burden of an unpayable debt.

And Sarah Smith might now be a woman but she still found herself at the mercy of a man who would never be paid off.


	11. Chapter 11

XI

Robin Hood had a lot on his mind.

So much had happened of late and the situation with Isabella was becoming more and more difficult. It had been quiet on that front the past few days but he had the feeling that this was merely the calm before the storm.

If only he could find a way to stop her… This is what he had been thinking of, lying awake on his bedroll, as his thoughts drifted off once again to something else entirely…

…to Sarah.

_You are a fool Robin of Locksley._

He knew there were many reasons why he shouldn’t think of her; the most important of which was lay beside him sharing his bed - Kate would castrate him if she could see into his mind right now. Not to mention what Gisborne would do...  
And then there were the hard times ahead that he was sure were coming; they needed to be prepared, they needed a strategy if they were to be in with a chance of getting through.  
But still his thoughts drifted…  
Why could he not stop thinking of her?  
He knew that this was not a good idea – not a good idea at all; he had enough on his plate right now, more than enough to be getting on with and the last thing he needed was to be distracted with thoughts like these.  
But somehow she had him. There was something about her. Something… familiar…

Then it dawned on him.  
How could he not have seen it earlier?  
Upon speaking with her he had been astounded by her stubbornness, her recklessness, her inability to admit that she put herself in danger doing the things she did and her unwillingness to accept his offer of help. Only one other person had made him feel like this…

_…Marian._

Now it all made sense. Despite all differences in appearance, his heart had recognised something of Marian in another - Sarah was not Marian’s image, but she certainly had a good deal of her spirit.  
How funny it was then that Gisborne should fall for her; it seemed that his heart had looked for Marian as well. Robin wondered if the Knight had noticed the similarities between them. Perhaps it was with Guy as it was with him: He missed her too.

Robin sighed, there was nothing for it; he would have to get up. He managed to extricate himself from Kate without waking her and then quietly tiptoed to the fire. He was amazed to find that he was not alone; Much was already sitting there, looking into the embers. Robin gave his friend a smile and an affectionate punch on the shoulder before sitting beside him.

“Can’t sleep Much?”

“No, I did drop off for a bit but then… well, you know how it is...”

“No Much, how is it?”

“Something or other woke me up and then I got to thinking…”

“You? Thinking?” Robin was grinning, he enjoyed winding his best friend up.

Much looked put out, as was his custom, “Yes. Thinking. I do that too you know!”

“I know you do.” Robin reached over and squeezed his arm playfully. They sat in silence for several moments before Robin’s curiosity got the better of him, “Go on then, what were you thinking about?”

“About all this…” Much gestured to the camp in general, “so much has changed…” he was shaking his head, an unhappy expression on his face. Robin tilted his head to look him in the eyes and nodded to signal that he should go on.

“This isn’t how I thought things would turn out…” His voice was agitated and his hands flailed, signalling his helplessness, “I remember when we returned from the Holy Land, I thought we would settle down… and I know it didn’t happen but I just always assumed that at some point it would… you would be with Marian and I would be with Eve…”

Robin sighed. _Yes Much, that would’ve been nice wouldn’t it?  
_

“…and now Marian is… gone… and Eve as well, and Will and Djaq and… we’re still here.”

Robin remained uncharacteristically silent. Much had pretty much just hit the nail on the head. There really wasn’t anything he could say to that right now.

Much then made a noise that was something between a huff and a laugh “…and now he’s here…” he gestured to a sleeping Gisborne nearby, a look of exasperation but also amusement on his face. Robin found himself quietly chuckling at this. They remained silent for a moment again, before Much offered cheerily, “Hey perhaps we could persuade the girl to take him off our hands!?”

“Much you’re a genius! We could tie him up for her, like a present!” Robin grinned,

“Or just leave him on the doorstep of the Trip, someone would take him surely…” They both laughed softly, Robin patting Much on the back for his suggestion.

A long silence followed before Robin whispered, “It will be alright you know.”

Much didn’t look convinced.

“Do you think I’ll ever see her again?”

Robin knew he was speaking of Eve.

“Of course you will.”


	12. Chapter 12

XII

Guy of Gisborne had these past few days imagined a million different scenarios of how it would be to be with his loveliest girl again. Most of them were… well… you can imagine…

He had respectfully kept his distance from her this long for he didn’t want to appear too keen but then again he didn’t want to stay away too long for she was indeed very lovely and he certainly didn’t want to lose her interest.

The scene he was then confronted with upon entering her home was not anything he could ever have imagined.

Her younger sister Emma introduced herself and escorted him into the parlour before taking her leave to go fetch her sibling. He glanced around to see a room in chaos; the place looked as if it had been ransacked.  
He waited patiently but a feeling of dread took hold of him: something was wrong here, something was very very wrong. As Sarah then hobbled slowly into the room, he was utterly horrified - her face was a swollen, painful, mess of bruises.

She couldn’t look at him.

He couldn’t stop looking at her.

He rushed towards her in an instant, his eyes wide in shock as he took in the extent of her injuries. He swallowed hard and brought his hand up to touch her face but she stopped him. She backed away from him and then turned her back to him, wishing she had not let him see her like this.

“Sarah?” He was so shocked he could hardly speak. She was trying to compose herself, trying hard not to cry, her whole body shaking with the effort.

“Please Sarah…” His voice was so soft she could hardly bear it, and as he slowly took the steps towards her and repeated those words, she could no longer stop herself from breaking down.

 

* * *

 

 

“You must be Allan.” Emma smiled at the outlaw waiting on the doorstep and signalled for him to come in. Allan tried not to grin idiotically. She was a younger, smaller version of her older sister, sixteen maybe seventeen summers old, Allan reckoned. And sweet, oh yes, she was very sweet.

_Too young for you matey._

“Yeah. That’s me. You must be Sarah’s sister.”

“Yes, I’m Emma.”

Upon entering the parlour, he immediately noticed that all was not as it should be.

“Err… I’m not being funny but if this is some sort of home improvements then I think you should have a rethink…”

He picked a chair up from off the floor, and placed it so that he could take his seat. Unfortunately, one of the chair legs was broken and so the chair toppled over taking him with it. He found himself inelegantly sprawled out on the floor and was about to let loose with a string of cuss words when he heard a quiet laugh nearby and remembered that he was in the company of a young lady who shouldn’t hear such things. He looked up at her and could see that she was heartily amused, her beautiful face creasing up as she began giggling.

“Yeh, as I was sayin’, these home improvements aren’t really doing it for me.” He didn’t bother to get up, he just sat there amongst the wreckage watching her laughing at him, he found he couldn’t be angry or embarrassed whilst she laughed so happily.

“These ‘improvements’ were not our idea Allan.” As she said this, she rolled her eyes and smiled at him in a way that made him want to sigh. She took a step towards him and held out her hand to pull him up which he gratefully accepted reaching out to let her, his eyes fixed on her hand as he did so. Although his hand dwarfed her dainty digits, he was surprised by the force with which she pulled him up and then even more surprised that she didn’t let go but instead led him by the hand out into the garden. He gave her a happy grin as she then returned to the house.

Allan didn’t have a chance to think any more about Emma or the scene that had just taken place for he was then confronted by the sight of Sarah and Guy. At first, all he could see was that they were sitting opposite each other, so close that Guy could run his hands up her arms to pull her closer, his expression was one of tenderness, his voice soft and deep as he whispered in her ear. As Allan came closer, he could then see her face. It was completely swollen out of shape; a mass of cuts and bruises and were it not for everything else, her hair, her clothes etc., he would not have been able to recognise her. He found himself rooted to the spot, unable to move another inch, transfixed by the sight of her.

Guy looked up at him and signalled that he should stay there, he then whispered to his companion that he was going to go talk with Allan for a while before placing a small kiss on the top of her head and getting up to take Allan off into the wrecked scene that was the parlour once more.

Away from his paramour, Guy’s tender expression faded and was replaced by something considerably darker. Allan could see the fury bubbling under the surface as he related the circumstances that had led to Sarah’s injuries – a cowardly attack from a man who had been leeching off her and her family for years. The reason the man had beaten her was petty and spiteful – she had not been there the other evening as he had come to collect his money. This was unfair for she couldn’t even help that she had not been there: the evening in question she had been unwillingly escorted to the forest by them.

Guy was fuming. He had always had a frightening temper and Allan wouldn’t want to trade places with the man upon whom it would be unleashed for all the gold in the Sheriff’s coffers. Henry Dartford had, in attacking Sarah, made himself a formidable enemy who would stop at nothing to exact revenge and as Allan looked at the poor girl out in the garden he decided that whatever Guy needed from him, he would give without question – yes, he would help his friend, Dartford would pay for what he had done and in spades.

The sisters could no longer stay at the house, that much was clear; as long as Dartford was abroad, they were no longer safe there. It had not been his intention to spare the younger sister, indeed he had ransacked the house looking for Emma; she had been only avoided a beating because she had been visiting neighbours at the time.

At first, Guy had wanted to stay with them there to look after them both but Allan reasoned that perhaps Dartford might return with others in tow and there was not much revenge to be had when hopelessly outnumbered. No, there was nothing else for it, a removal to the forest was in order and as much as Guy had no wish to back down on this one, they needed to think about what was best for the girls’ safety whilst considering their next move.

And so it came to pass that that very same evening the outlaws camp in Sherwood Forest received two new residents.

And Robin Hood came to see that his worst fears for Sarah had been realised.


	13. Chapter 13

XIII

“Guy, I can walk, you don’t have to carry me.” Sarah murmured looking up at him from where she was neatly cradled in his arms, one hand playfully tugging on the drawstrings of his shirt.

“You are tired, I can see it.” She had been limping slightly for most of the journey to camp but being stubborn as ever had insisted on walking, only accepting his arm for support. As they had arrived in the forest however, she had begun to flag and so he had been unable to resist the urge to cradle her in his arms and carry her the rest of the way to camp.

“Yes but what about you?”

He smirked. Why did women always worry about their weight? She weighed practically nothing; carrying her was no problem whatsoever for him and even if she had weighed more, could she not see that it was a most pleasant inconvenience for him?

“After we’ve cleaned you up at the river, you can carry me the rest of the way to camp.” She saw a flash of a cheeky grin before she felt his lips upon her forehead.

“’Ere, I’m a bit tired, you can carry me if you like!” Allan joked nudging Emma playfully.

“Oh yes! You would love that wouldn’t you?”

He gave her a saucy wink. She rolled her eyes for what seemed like the fiftieth time since they had left Nottingham.

As they reached the river, Guy gently placed Sarah upon the ground and gave Allan a look that left him in no doubt that he was to make himself scarce. The outlaw had understood him but Guy never had been one for subtlety - he paired the look with the suggestion that Allan go on ahead to the camp with Emma and introduce her to Robin Hood and his merry men. Allan smirked and looked over to Emma to see a similar expression on her face - she knew the deal just as he did; the couple wanted their privacy, it was most definitely time to go.

Guy watched them leave and once he was sure they were gone, he walked over to Sarah and slowly began to undress her. She trembled. She didn’t know why; it was not as if he hadn’t seen her naked before; in fact it had only been a few days ago that he had not far from this very spot undressed her and placed his hands and lips upon her but now it was different – her body was covered with welts and bruises and as much as she found comfort in his tenderness, a part of her did not want him to see her this way. He stopped as soon as he saw her discomfort and pulled her into his arms, hugging her and whispering endearments. He had received a number of beatings himself in his lifetime and so knew very well why she was reluctant to bare her injuries to him.

“I shall turn my back if you prefer.”

“No, you don’t have to, it’s just…” she gestured to her body with a look of disgust, “…it looks terrible.”

He sighed. “Sarah, you may or may not have noticed that I currently live in a camp – not a castle, not a mansion, not a house, not even a barn but a camp. I live there with a group of men and the things I have seen…” His face was a picture of disgust and she couldn’t help but laugh. He smiled, took both her hands in his and tilted his head to look her directly in the eyes, “So you may think you look terrible but you have not seen Allan first thing in the morning!”

She laughed and then moved in to hug him. He leant into her embrace and felt her lips pressing gentle kisses upon his neck.

“Let me look after you.”

As he felt her lips continue their journey up his neck, along his jawline and then greet his own lips with a smile and a kiss, he closed his eyes and enjoyed her acceptance of his offer.

 

* * *

 

Emma Smith was a most welcome addition to the outlaws’ camp.

In her first evening there, she became a firm favourite with most of the camp’s residents. In time, she would even go on to conquer Little John’s gruff reticence and Kate’s suspicious nature.  
She brought life to the place. Most of the men had been living in the forest far too long to find anything wondrous about it but in showing her around and in listening to her enthusiastic praise of it, for a short while they could see it through her youthful eyes.

Even Much (who had been feeling somewhat down of late) found himself feeling better. He wasn’t used to anybody taking an interest in him or the things he did and so it was like a breath of fresh air to have somebody listening to him as he explained how he managed to rustle up a meal for one and all despite the often meagre offerings of the forest.

Tuck was also grateful for somebody keen to listen his stories: he could only smile at Emma’s childlike wonder as he recounted how it was that he’d come to live amongst the outlaws and all the adventures he’d had with them of late.

Robin was charm personified as he always was with a beautiful girl. After all, he was Robin Hood - try as he might he could be no other. Emma took his charm offensive with a pinch of salt; she could feel the suspicious eyes of the blond mistress of the camp boring into her from the side-lines and so she decided it was best to steer the conversation to safer, less flirtatious ground namely the attack on her sister. He became very pensive upon hearing her relate the circumstances by which they now came to seek refuge at his camp and took his leave of her to discuss the matter with Tuck.

“You alright?”  
She turned on her heels to see Allan nearby. She nodded and smiled politely. He was about to make a joke about the upcoming treat in store for her; squirrel for dinner but decided against it - she looked tired and he guessed from her anxious glances in the direction of the river that she must be wondering where her sister had gotten to.

“Don’t worry, he’ll look after her.” He was of course referring to Guy and Sarah.

“I’m not so sure…” Her voice was quiet, betraying her concern - she barely knew the man who was now comforting her sister and had every reason to be wary.

“You’ve seen him with her, can you doubt it?”

“No but I’ve heard things about him.” From her worried expression Allan could gather that those ‘things’ had not been good.

“Yeh well, I wish I could say that it’s all just gossip but I can’t”

“You’re not selling him to me here Allan.”

“How could I? I know better than to try! I mean I’m not half bad at talkin’ but even I’m not that good!”  
An uneasy silence followed. He wanted to comfort her somehow but couldn’t find the words. Reassuring worried teenagers just wasn’t his forte and discussing Guy’s more positive aspects certainly wasn’t.

“Then why do you bother with him Allan?” she finally asked, looking him directly in the eye.

“Coz he’s not all bad you know? Once you get to know ‘im...” He knew this sounded crap but he couldn’t find any other way to explain it: it was something that had to be seen to be believed he supposed.

“…and he’s tryin’ his best…” he felt himself struggling now; he wished he hadn’t even started this conversation.

“What do you mean?” Her stare became even more intense and as much as he wanted to leave or to look away, he didn’t; if he couldn’t tell her straight then the least he could do was look her straight in the eye.

“…to be better…” he gave her a small smile - an attempt to reassure, “…to be a better man.”

She nodded. He was relieved to see her return his smile. After a brief silence as they held each other’s gaze, her smile grew into something more mischievous and one eyebrow quirked upwards: “And what about you Allan-a-Dale? Are you trying to be a better man?”

His smile was cheekily charming, “Of course my lady, it’s all any of us can do innit?”


	14. Chapter 14

XIV

Guy found that Sarah was looking much improved; the cool water of the river had done much to help ease the swelling and soothe her cuts and bruises. Her face was however, still a mess and of course looking very different to how it had been a few days earlier, (the last time she had been in the camp) and so it was that as she arrived, she was greeted with the sight of many shocked and staring outlaws. In those first moments she felt decidedly uncomfortable but with Guy at her side and then Emma bounding towards her to give her a hug before excitedly chattering about all she had seen at the camp, she began to feel a little better.

Robin Hood wasted no time in approaching her. “As much as I am happy to see you here again my lady, I am sorry that it is under these circumstances.”

“You can say it if you like.” Her tone was flat and emotionless. Guy frowned and looked at Robin. He had not been party to their previous conversation and so didn’t know what this was about. The outlaw however, knew exactly to what she was referring.

“I shall not for I take no pleasure in being right on this one, I can assure you.” He meant every word. He might be able to say ‘I told you so’ for he had warned her about the risks she took and in doing so correctly divined her fate but seeing her like this broke his heart. It took him to a dark place - a place he had been before with somebody else…

When he closed his eyes, he could see her…

…Marian…

…lying injured in the cave… Djaq bent over her, trying to treat the terrible wound on her abdomen… him breaking down into tears… realising how much he loved her… how scared he was to lose her…

…and then…

…later…

…much later…

…Marian… lay upon the hot sands of Acre… her white dress… her blood… her attempt at a smile… the fear in her eyes… knowing… knowing she was…

His head snapped up and he fixed Gisborne with a look of purest hatred. Guy was caught completely off guard - his eyes wide in surprise, he had no idea what was going on in the man’s head. Sarah looked from Robin to Guy and found herself feeling very uneasy. She was about to pull herself and Guy away but then the moment had passed and Robin had gone, storming off into the forest without saying a word.

The couple looked at each other astonished, both clueless as to what had just occurred. Guy then looked over to Allan who gave him a shrug to signal that he was equally at a loss. A quick glance around the camp confirmed that nobody had expected this or knew what was going on.

After a brief silence, Kate was on the warpath. She stormed over to Guy with a face like thunder, “What did you say to him?”

“Nothing!” He took a step forwards, instinctively putting himself between Kate and Sarah; he did not want her caught up in one of the many spats that he had with Kate.

“It didn’t look like nothing to me!”

“Well then I think you should consider getting your eyes checked for I didn’t say a word to the man!” Guy loomed tall over Kate, his arms crossed over his chest, his voice low and menacing. She remained unimpressed, angrily looking up at him.

“Look perhaps we should all calm down a bit yeah?” that was Allan.

“Kate, I think you should go have a chat with Robin, see what is bothering him…” that was Tuck.

“I know what is bothering him! I always know what is bothering him! It’s the same thing that is always bothering all of us!” Kate gestured to the Master of Arms stood in front of her. He scowled, his eyes flitting to the heavens, his fingers gripping hard into his biceps. He would never hit a woman but oh God, how she tested him.

“Can’t we just have one evening without a fight?” exasperated tones from Much.

Then giggling. That was from Emma, no longer able to contain her amusement. Sarah gave her sister a look of warning but couldn’t keep it up for long for Allan had begun quietly laughing now. Even Guy began to smirk and although Kate was still pouting, it seemed that the fight was over.

Tuck took Kate off, away from the others. Sarah did the same with Guy.

Allan sighed in relief and then cheerily enquired: “Alright Much, how about we tuck into that squirrel now eh?”

 

* * *

 

Sarah had received her own bed and blanket but of course, Guy was having none of it.

No, there would be no sneaking around with him.

As soon as he saw her lie down upon her bedroll, which had been thoughtfully placed by Much next to Emma’s in a more private corner of the camp (ladies needed privacy after all), he wordlessly marched across the camp and in plain sight of one and all, scooped her up into his arms, before striding over to his own bed and depositing her upon it. He then pulled his shirt up and over his head, casually threw it to the floor, lay down on his side and pulled her flush against his chest.

She was about to protest, something along the lines of how that could have been handled more discreetly and how he shouldn’t keep carting her about like a rag doll all the time, but he silenced her with a kiss. A kiss that could never be described as chaste.

Oh, there was much to cause earache and if scandalized looks could earn him money then he wouldn’t have to go robbing any rich people the next few days but he couldn’t care less.

He was a possessive lover and always had been. As he saw it, she was his and so belonged in his bed. That was that. End of discussion.

As he continued to kiss her - no, overwhelm her with pleasurable reasons to stay with him would be a more accurate description of what he was doing to her, she found herself melt under his touch and with her, any resolve to protest melted as well.

The truth of it was that she wanted him. She always had. Even back then, that first time...

...the night he had drunkenly pulled her into his lap in Locksley and made her a woman...

...she had trembled as she'd felt his fingers sliding possessively under her skirts...

...his teeth sinking into her neck, marking her, singling her out as his...

...she had wanted him...

 

... and now more than ever.

 


	15. Chapter 15

XV

“Robin, we have a problem; he’s not alone.”

It had been Sarah’s idea that they talk to her neighbours. She suspected that her family was not the only one to be in debt to Henry Dartford and so it seemed logical to ask around. Robin led his men to Nottingham and although at first many were reluctant to speak with them, they soon discovered that quite a few families were suffering under such a burden.

She had been right.

Gisborne suspected that Dartford would at some point return to collect his money and so perhaps they could catch him in the act.

He had been right as well.

They had not been long in Nottingham before the man himself appeared. Guy knew him on sight. In the days of his service to the Sheriff, he had seen him once or twice at the castle. At the time, he had assumed that he was just another one of the Sheriff’s cronies but now he realised that the visits were probably to grease the Sheriff’s palm, a tactic that always got Vaisey to look the other way.

Now the man was there, in Sarah’s street, visiting a house a little further down from them and Guy ached to hurt him. The problem was, as Little John had pointed out, he was not alone - he had a group of mercenaries in tow.

They were outnumbered. Guy reasoned that that had never stopped Robin and his men in the past but before his hand could go to the hilt of his sword and he could give in to the urge to gut Dartford like a fish, Robin stopped him. He pointed to a group of children playing nearby and Guy understood: there were too many people around, if they attacked Dartford and his men, innocents could get caught in the crossfire.

So the men had to look on as Dartford went about his business.

“This isn’t over.” Guy hissed, his body shaking with suppressed rage.

“No, it isn’t.” Robin replied, his eyes never leaving Dartford.

 

* * *

 

“We need to find a way to lure him.” Robin was deep in thought. He and his men had retreated to the outskirts of Nottingham for they could do no more today.

“What do you suggest? We can’t just invite him to the forest.” Tuck was sitting on the ground nearby fiddling with his crucifix.

“Perhaps we could find out where he’s staying, surprise him there.” Gisborne offered.

“That could work…” Robin was considering this but was interrupted by Allan arriving with Kate:

“It gets worse Robin…” she began,

“Seems he’s been a bit heavy handed at the Trip as well…” Allan pressed his lips together tightly; he never liked to be the bearer of bad news.

“He got drunk there last night and lost his temper with one of the girls who works there…” Kate grimaced,

“Yeah, gave her a right shiner…” Allan gestured to his eye to signal where she’d been hit, “and in the melee he even kicked the dog…”

“Not Bertie!” Much was aghast.

Little John spat on the ground in disgust. Tuck looked furious. Allan nodded unhappily.

“The man is evil!” Kate declared. For once, she and Gisborne were in agreement.

“Did they throw him out?” Robin asked.

“Of course they did! Nobody kicks Bertie!” Allan replied. Collective nodding ensued.

After a few moments of silence, Robin looked around the group, a smile spreading slowly across his face: “I think I have a plan.”


	16. Chapter 16

XVI

Henry Dartford couldn’t remember the last time he had been this drunk.

He was standing at the privy of the Trip Inn trying to remain upright so that he could attend to the call of nature without spraying himself and the privy liberally with his own urine.

_God this place is a dump._

He didn’t know why he even bothered drinking there; they couldn’t even manage to keep the privy halfway clean - it looked and smelt godawful.

He looked down at his flaccid member and then remembered why he bothered with the place: the wenches were delightful. It was even worth putting up with that stupid bloody dog to get an eyeful of their loveliness. Sometimes they even let him…

He frowned upon remembering the wench from the other evening. Did she have to be so difficult? Can’t a man cop a feel when he’s so inclined? Just who did she think she was turning _him_ down? Didn’t she know who _he_ was? Stupid cow. Well he’d showed her alright.

He looked down once more at his penis and began to smile.

_It doesn’t matter a jot does it my good fellow? We will definitely be getting some tonight…_

He closed his eyes and thought of the girl waiting for him. After he had lost his temper with her the other week, he’d been worried that he had perhaps done permanent damage to her - she'd looked a right mess once he had done with her…

But no, she was as beautiful as ever…  _Oh yes, she has healed up nicely_ …

… _and so forward…_

He could hardly believe his luck; that she would seek him out and apologise to him for trying his patience so.

He smiled wickedly. Yes, she was a good girl; a woman who knows her place – just the way he liked it. _Can hold her drink as well!_ Christ, he was s**tfaced but she seemed to be fine, how did she do that? He was going to have to lay off the drinks for a bit otherwise he wasn’t going to be able to get it up.

He gave his penis a fond look and a pat before pulling up his trousers. He staggered towards the door but before going back out into the fray, he stopped to look at his reflection in the mirror. He decided that he was a handsome devil, yes indeed; she was a lucky lady, he would take her upstairs and show her just how lucky she was.

 

* * *

 

Sarah took a deep breath and steeled herself for what she was about to do.

She had charmed many men over the years but nothing had ever been as difficult as this before.

He made her skin crawl…

…and his hands were everywhere…

It was just as well that Guy wasn’t there to see it, he would tear him a new…

She looked up to see Allan nearby. God knows how he’d persuaded Guy to wait in the room upstairs.

She looked over towards Robin and Kate, they were pretending to be chatting but their eyes were fixed firmly on the door of the privy. As were hers.

_Not long now Dartford, not long and you will get yours…_

She heard the door of the privy slam violently open and saw him stagger over towards her. She smiled, her face ached in doing so but it had to be.

“Well my dearest girl, I would be honoured if you would join me upstairs for a drink…” He leered at her and reached out his hand. She took it. His touch made her want to gag but she couldn’t let him see it. He pulled her up from her seat and clumsily pulled her into his arms, his hands sliding down her body to grope her bottom; she pulled away and laughed nervously.

“All in good time my lord.” She hoped she didn’t look as disgusted as she felt.

Dartford surged forwards again, hands all over her and whispered in her ear; “You are a tease my lady, I can hardly wait to have you under me.”

She had to look away; the thought was so revolting. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Allan squirming; he had heard him as well that much was clear. She couldn’t take much more of this, every nerve in her body was screaming for her to get out of there but she was determined to see it through. She was going to finish this and then he would be gone and out of their lives forever.

She took him by the hand, flashed him her most charming smile and then began to pull him in the direction of the stairs. He slurred something about her being forward and staggered into a few tables on the way to the staircase. She continued to lead him, hoping that he was going to make it up the stairs, god forbid he should collapse before they made it up there – then what would she do?

Luckily they made it, on the way up he’d stopped to grope her once again and then as they neared the landing he’d pulled her close in a clumsy attempt to kiss her, she dodged it and in doing so nearly pushed him down the stairs, thankfully she caught him at the last moment and then with all her strength yanked him up the remaining steps and into his room.

 

* * *

 

The wait had been an agonizing eternity for Guy. He couldn’t bear the thought of Henry Dartford being anywhere near Sarah, let alone her seducing him.

He had to admit that upon meeting her again this second time around, his motives in getting better acquainted with her had been well… purely sensual. He was a selfish man he knew, only out to slake his lust but he'd also good reason to be wary of her; she was after all, a woman who, for her own financial gain, charmed men and who knew what she had planned with him?

At some point everything changed.

He didn't know if he could pinpoint an exact moment - perhaps upon seeing her so broken at her home in the wake of Dartford's attack or of learning the reason why she stole, or maybe even earlier as he had felt her lips upon his chest that morning after their first night together in the forest but now this was far more than anything he or indeed they had ever had before.

The thought that Dartford was sitting with her now, the thought that he could touch her...

_Patience Gisborne, this has to be... this is the plan... this is no time to wreck the show..._

He had seen out of the window that Little John, Much and Tuck had silenced Dartford’s guard dogs; they would have no problems with the few mercenaries who’d stuck around this evening, the trio had made sure that they were all out cold and tied up.

Allan had promised him that he would keep an eye on Dartford to make sure that nothing happened to Sarah whilst she got the man drunk. Robin and Kate were there too just in case - Robin had assured him that if Dartford even thought of making a wrong move he would quickly find himself in serious trouble.

But despite all precautions it was still a nightmare waiting alone in the bed chamber. His imagination ran riot, his desire to protect her, to keep her safe was willing him down the stairs, willing him to her side, willing him to bury his sword in the man who had caused her so much pain, patrons of the Trip be damned.

Then finally, the moment arrived. Sarah led Dartford into the room, making sure to close the door behind them, a coy smile on her lips. She turned to face Dartford, leading him to the bed. He paid no heed to anything other than her and he certainly paid no attention to the screen in the far corner of the room and so was oblivious to the fact that there was somebody concealed behind it.

He smiled lasciviously and his hands found their way once more to her form, he leaned heavily on her and toppled them both onto the bed. His fingers began roughly pulling at her bodice to pull it down to free her breasts from it but he never made it that far… one moment it was all pleasure and the next it was purest pain… the last thing he heard before he passed out was a deep, masculine, menacing voice at his ear whispering:

“What’s the matter Dartford? I thought you liked it rough?”

 

* * *

 

A few hours later, the residents of a certain street in Nottingham found a man lying bound and gagged in the middle of the road.

He was a wreck: more dead than alive and barely recognisable as the man who had brought them so much misery so many years.

Nobody knew how he'd got there and since they were not ones to look a gift horse in the mouth, nobody asked any inconvenient questions of that sort.

Not long after he disappeared.

They never had any trouble again.

 


	17. Chapter 17

XVII

“Allan, do you know where my sister has got to?”

“Take a guess.” He smirked.

“At the river?” Emma gave him a knowing look.

“Where else.” His answer was accompanied by a large grin.

“Guy is ‘tending to her wounds’ again?” Her smile was wicked.

“Her wounds should be healed by now.” Much interrupted. He always had been a bit slow on the uptake.

“Why yes Much but you know how it is – a man can never be too sure eh?” Allan gave Emma a wink and she began to giggle.

“Oh…” The penny had finally dropped with Much.

“Yes Much, my sister is ‘thanking Guy’ for taking care of Dartford for her.”

“Yes Much, they are ‘celebrating’ their safe return from Nottingham.”

Allan grinned at Emma and silently thanked his lucky stars that she had come into his life. He thought she was utterly wonderful in every way. This reverie was interrupted by Much’s exasperated exclamation of “Alright I get it!”

Much was about to wander off but then he saw Little John approaching. He didn’t look happy at all. Not one bit.

“You alright John?” Allan enquired.

“Oh yes, everything’s just fine and dandy! I can’t even go for a wash at the river these days without being greeted by the sight of Gisborne putting his…”

“…horse in Sarah’s stable?” Allan offered helpfully.

Much’s eyes bugged and he began to splutter. Emma broke down into a laughing fit so intense that she was bent double, tears streaming down her face, it looked like she was crying but no, she was most definitely laughing. Allan’s grin was so big that it hurt his face.

Little John looked relieved. What he had been about to say had been far worse.

 

* * *

 

“Guy I'm going to say something you're not going to like...”

Sarah raised her head from where it had been resting snug against Guy’s chest to look up into the face of her lover. His eyes were closed and he breathed deeply, she was tracing patterns with her fingers on his skin and he didn’t want her to stop. They lay entwined in a post-coital embrace upon the forest floor a short walk from the river, their lovemaking had begun whilst bathing there but they'd had to retreat to a more secluded spot upon hearing footsteps nearby. Guy cursed forest life once more: nothing could be done without everybody finding out about it.

He opened his eyes, a small smile of amusement graced his lips and he raised an eyebrow.

"Emma and I... we need to go home."

There she'd said it… and there _it_ was: the frown she had been expecting from him and knew so well. He shifted uncomfortably beneath her and they both moved to release each other from their intimate embrace and sit up. His sad expression made her want to crawl back on top of him, into his lap to take that sadness from his eyes.

"Had enough of the outlaw life already?" His voice was hard, she could not say she was fond of this tone but she was happy to hear it not so frequently these days. After a moment though, he seemed to soften and sigh. He could understand her: he had been heartily sick of being in the forest since the moment he'd got there, if he could return to Locksley he would do so in an instant.

"You have all been so good to us. I can never thank you enough for all that you have done but I have to think of Emma."

Guy nodded. It had taken Sarah a long time to persuade the young girl to stay out of the action whilst they dealt with Dartford and Emma's resulting moody teenage behaviour had nearly driven her to distraction. Now the girl was determined to accompany them on whatever future escapades they were to embark upon however dangerous or risky. It didn't help that Robin and his ragtag band of merry men were hardly discouraging her with tales of their exploits. Why just last night Guy had seen Little John telling her about how he'd come to meet Robin and Much and of course Emma had been an enchanted listener; with her adventurous spirit she could hardly be otherwise.

But as much as the men were fond of her, there was no denying that they were outlaws; hunted men and there was always the risk of capture or worse and so it was understandable Sarah didn't want for her sister to be involved in anything that could put her at risk of such a fate.

"The forest is no place for a child." He said softly and in doing so took their thoughts off to another topic of conversation, one that Sarah had been meaning to broach for quite some time now.

"Guy, do you know why I left my position at Locksley?" She began tentatively.

"Yes. I do."

Well actually, he was not being entirely truthful here, he did and he didn’t. His behaviour at the time of her service at Locksley had been appalling and so there was a whole plethora of reasons for her to have left but if he was going to hazard a guess at what had been the last straw he reckoned it would probably be because she’d found out what had happened with…

"Annie."

She said no more for there was no need to. One word was enough for them both to know what she was referring to.

_Ah, yes Gisborne, in a life of low acts that one is right down there with the lowest._

The change in him was instant – a dark frown encompassed his features, his jaw clenched, he was holding his breath and his body froze into a rigid posture. He was silent for a long time and she wondered if perhaps he would say anything at all. She was about to get up and leave but then he began to speak.

"I knew Locksley would find him." He looked at her directly; his eyes were cold and his voice flat. “There was no way I could keep him or be in any way connected to him..."

"He was your son Guy. You were supposed to take him to Kirklees" She interrupted,

"The Sheriff would have found out."

_As sure as the sun rises my sweet._

"You could have sent someone else."

He shook his head. "The Sheriff would have found out." He spoke slowly; he could not emphasize this point enough.

"But..."

"I know how it looked but believe me if the Sheriff had known or he had somehow fallen into the Sheriff's hands..."

Guy had done terrible things for Vaisey. What would he have done (or to put it more accurately, been made to do) if his son had been at his mercy? "You think he would have harmed him?" She looked horrified.

"You _don't_  think he would have?" He looked at her as if she was naïve, which in this respect she was.

She looked to the floor aghast.

Now she understood him.

"It could've been our child, what would you have preferred?" His voice and expression was chilling. He was right and the very thought of it made her sick to the stomach.

"Guy!" Her voice was soft and pleading, she reached out to him, unable to bear seeing him like this but he had already turned his back to her.

"There is much you will hear about me that you will not like Sarah..." he got up to dress, swiftly pulling himself into his trousers, his back still turned, "...Perhaps it would be better if..." He couldn’t finish the sentence and he didn't want it to but his voice betrayed him; she could hear the small waver in it. He was trying to make it easier for her to go but she knew that he did not want that.

She ran over to him, wrapping her arms around him from behind. It was a slightly messy collision, she had underestimated the force of her approach and the hardness of his form but then he gasped as he felt her head nuzzling into his bare back between his shoulder blades and God forgive him, he couldn't help it, and it probably would have been better for her if he had pushed her away but he didn't, he couldn't, he wouldn't. He closed his eyes and leaned back against her.

They stood there for a long time, finding comfort in the warmth of each other, neither wanting to move or say anything. Had someone discovered them it must have made a curious sight: a naked woman embracing a half-naked man, this thought occurred to Guy as he slowly turned to face her and pull her close to his chest, his lips grazing her forehead, his hands sliding down her curves before resting on her waist and pulling her into him. The relief at him not pushing her away translated into a hard and hungry kiss from her, which he returned with equal enthusiasm. She felt him gently pushing her down and she responded, following him lower and lower to the ground before he gently lay her down, placed himself over her and returned his lips to hers. He felt her hands moving to free him from his trousers, her body arching to meet his and at the moment before he took her, he stopped to look down upon her.

"Open your eyes Sarah."

She did so and that was when she knew…

…it hit her full force just as it had that first night as he had kissed her in the forest: the realisation that she might have charmed him but no, he HAD her. Those eyes had bewitched her again and she was a goner - utterly and completely.

Then with those blue eyes fixed upon her and a small smile upon his lips, he shifted his hips and they became one.

 


	18. Chapter 18

XVIII

“I wont go! You can’t make me!”

“Emma please! Be reasonable! We can’t live here!” Sarah was trying not to raise her voice but it wasn’t easy when faced with her stroppy teenage sister.

“Why not? He does!” Emma gestured to Guy who was standing nearby trying not to get involved, he had already seen the sisters argue a number of times and knew better than to intervene.

“Don’t you want to be with him?”

Sarah opened her mouth and promptly closed it, this conversation was becoming very personal all of a sudden and she was not sure she wanted to discuss this with the whole camp in earshot.

“It’ll not be so easy to sneak off to the river with him when we are back in Nottingham will it?”

_Bullseye Emma!_

Sarah’s face went crimson. Guy turned his back to hide his amusement. As did a number of other outlaws who were pretending not to listen.

“Emma please! We already talked about this! We can’t stay here; we need to go home…”

“Guy? You don’t want her to go do you? Help me to persuade her to stay! Please Guy?” Guy turned to face her and his face said it all – indeed, he did not want her to go but…

“Emma, you need to understand that this is not a game…” He approached her slowly and began to pull up his shirtsleeves. “Look at my arms, do you see the scars?”

Emma’s eyes went wide at the sight; his arms were indeed littered with an impressive display of scars. “These are the result of years of fighting, the most recent of them since I have lived here…” He paused to see if she was following him, “This life here is dangerous Emma, I might have scars but others have suffered much worse. Your sister is not lying when she tells you that you need to go home.”

Emma was silent for a moment and it gave Guy hope. He looked to Sarah who was nervously biting her bottom lip and looking equally hopeful.

“But you could look after us! All of you could!” Emma had been speaking loudly before but now raised her voice even further to appeal to the others who ‘weren’t listening’.

“You could show me how to use a sword! And Robin could teach me how to use a bow!”

“Emma no!” Sarah was having none of it.

“Why not? If you had been able to do those things then Dartford would never have been able to hurt you like that!”

Emma had a point there but Sarah was furious anyway. Guy stepped in before she could say anything. “As you can see from my arms Emma, even if you can fight it is no guarantee that you will come out unscathed… You must see that we only want to keep you safe.”

“And you think Nottingham is safer than here do you? Well, guess what? It isn’t! Because your stupid sister is Sheriff!”

_Bullseye again Emma! Christ, she is astute._

Normally Guy would’ve lost his temper, he had after all just been on the receiving end of a dressing down from a girl of seventeen but as much as it irked him, he couldn’t refute what she was saying and besides, he wasn’t fast enough to counter one of the most dangerous of female weapons: the ‘storm off in tears’ weapon...

Sarah was about to follow her but found herself held back by a gentle tug on her wrist.

It was Allan.

“I’ll go.”

 

* * *

 

Allan found Emma by the river; she was huffily throwing stones into it.

“If you’re lookin’ to catch a fish you might wanna try a line instead.”

She gave him a dirty look and continued throwing stones.

“I’m just sayin’ that the only thing you’re gonna achieve with this is giving the fishes a headache.”

He tried to cheer her with a grin but received none in return. He started throwing stones at the trees, she tried to ignore him but after a few seconds, her curiosity got the better of her.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m tryin’ to give the squirrels a headache.”

She tried hard not to smile but failed, “That’s ridiculous!”

“Well, it makes about as much sense as what you’re doing doesn’t it?”

She shrugged. They continued throwing stones and both were trying not to smile now.

“Go on then, tell me.”

“Tell you what Allan?”

“What’s so great about this bloody camp?”

She paused a moment before answering enthusiastically; “Everything is! You have the forest and your friends…”

“…and dirt and trees and leaves and squirrels and no money, not even a pot to p…”

“Allan!”

“Look it might seem like fun now but believe me; it doesn’t take long before you’re sick of it.”

He stopped throwing stones to get a good look at her, wondering if he was getting through to her at all, her look of surprise at his comment suggested that he wasn’t.

“Are you sick of it?”

“Of course I am! We all are! You can ask any of the lads, they’ll tell you!”

Silence followed. She dropped her stones and looked directly at him. He looked tired.

“If I had a proper home to go to, I would go there.” His voice was unusually quiet as he said this.

Silence again.

“Maybe I won’t get sick of it.” Emma was nothing if not stubborn.

He sighed. “You will. You’ll miss your friends in Nottingham and your warm comfy bed and decent meals…”

“Squirrel is not so bad!”

“It’s not all that good either!”

He smiled as she collapsed into giggles. She would never know how happy she made him when she laughed. “…and you’ll get sick of us old gits boring you to death with our stories…”

“Never!”

“Of course!” She was about to interrupt but he continued, “Aww come on, you’ve gotta admit that Tuck can go on a bit…”

She tried to put her face straight to deny it but found she couldn’t. She began laughing again despite herself. She looked up at him with a look of pure affection, “I’ll never get bored of you Allan.”

He was gobsmacked. He had to turn away, he couldn’t let her see how her words had affected him; he was trying furiously not to blush. Did she have any idea what she did to him? He turned back to see a mischievous grin plastered all over her face that suggested that she did.

“Don’t you want me to stay?”

She had no idea how much he did. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes. This was a bad idea of his: How could he convince her to do something he didn’t want her to?

He decided to try a different tactic. “Look the way I see it, your sister isn’t going to back down on this one so why not have the best of both worlds eh? I mean you can come and visit us any time you like and we’ll come and visit you…”

“You will?” The eager look on her face as she asked this made him melt.

“Of course! It’ll take a whole army to keep Guy away from your sister...”

“That’s not what I meant Allan!”

“I know.” He grinned cheekily, “Don’t you worry milady, you’ll be havin’ plenty of visitors; so many and so frequently that the whole bloody street will be scandalized I reckon!”

 

* * *

 

Sarah was relieved to see a much calmer Emma return to camp. As Allan approached, Guy received a wink from him; the blond received a smirk in reply.

They had not yet exchanged words as Robin Hood approached. “So what’s new ladies and gents?” He had been in Nottingham most of the day and so had not been there to witness the sister’s arguing earlier.

Sarah looked at Robin but also glanced at Emma several times, as she spoke. “Robin, we are most grateful for your letting us stay here but I think it is time for us to return home.”

Emma didn’t look happy but she remained silent. Allan sighed in relief.

“Well I’m sorry to disappoint you mi ’lady but I can’t allow you to do that.”

All eyes were upon Robin.

Sarah was about to interrupt, her expression thunderous but Robin was quicker: “Now before you have a go at me you should hear me out…” He looked intently at Sarah, her features softened somewhat but she still looked sceptical. Emma had been standing somewhat off to the side as Robin had arrived, but upon hearing what he’d said she moved closer, eager to listen to him.

“I had thought that this thing with Dartford would have blown over by now but it seems that he has friends in high places and they are still making a big fuss about it – bending a lot of ears about his disappearance.” He looked to Sarah and could see that she understood. “Word in Nottingham is that the Sheriff is looking for you Sarah - as the last person to have been seen with Dartford they want to pull you in for questioning.”

“No! We can’t let them find her!” Guy’s voice was urgent, as former Master of Arms he had a very good idea of what ‘questioning’ would entail.

“My sentiments exactly.” Robin replied.

“Can I not just say that Dartford passed out and that was the last I saw of him?” Sarah would not yet give up on the idea of going home.

Guy took her hands in his, turning her to face him, looking deep into her eyes. “They won’t just question you. They will hurt you and they will not stop hurting you until you give them the answer they want to hear.” Robin and Allan nodded as he spoke, they both knew this to be true and had learned it from bitter experience.

“He’s right Sarah, I spread the word that you were visiting relatives to account for your absence in Nottingham but it seems that one of your neighbours mentioned that they had seen you getting friendly with a certain former Master of Arms…”

Robin looked pointedly at Gisborne as he said this. Gisborne frowned, deeply unimpressed but then remembered that before they had dealt with Dartford, he had kissed Sarah on her doorstep - the neighbours had obviously seen it. Back then, he had not known about Dartford but still, he had been foolish and indiscreet and he cursed himself for it now. Sarah looked to the floor obviously embarrassed; she remained silent as Robin continued;

“This information, on top of the fact that you’ve been seen with Dartford in the Trip has made Isabella suspicious. It would not be a good idea for you to go anywhere near Nottingham right now.”

An uncomfortable silence followed. Guy gently squeezed Sarah’s hand.

“And so it seems that you are an outlaw now mi ‘lady and as such I can only advise you to stay here. Like it or not: you’re stuck with us.” Robin’s voice betrayed his amusement, like the rest of his men he couldn’t say he was sorry that they would be sticking around.

Sarah took this in with quiet resignation.

Emma took this in with barely concealed happiness.

 

 


	19. Chapter 19

XIX

“Go on then, tell me…”

Robin had sent Guy off to Nottingham on some pretext; the real reason was that he wanted to speak to Sarah alone.

“…What was it he said to you?”

“Sorry?” Sarah looked up from what she was doing to see him standing before her; he was leaning casually against a tree, with his arms folded in front of him, regarding her with a smug smile on his face.

“Gisborne. That night he first brought you here...” upon seeing her confusion he continued, “...he brought you here tied up and struggling. The next morning you were lying in his bed. Indulge me - what did he say to you?”

She frowned in annoyance. The gall of the man. She continued with the task in hand, collecting clothes together for washing, only stopping briefly to answer him. “That’s between me and him.”

“Did he promise you marriage?”

She gave him the dirtiest of looks and then threw all of the clothes in a sack before storming off in the direction of the river. Robin followed unperturbed. “You must forgive me but I have good reason to be concerned.” He shouted whilst trying to catch up to her.

“It is none of your business!” She turned swiftly on her heels, her eyes flashing in anger.

“Neither was Dartford but my men and I helped you.”

“And how is this conversation helping me?”

He strode towards her, looking her directly in the eyes, the expression on his face intense. “Do you have any idea who you are getting involved with?”

“Do you?” 

She saw him hesitate and was about to leave but he gripped her wrist. She angrily pulled her arm from his grasp but then he stepped forward to block her way. She looked up at him, the anger was rolling off her in waves but he was determined to have his say.

“How did he do it? What did he say to win you? I can’t help but wonder for he is hardly a catch is he? He was the Master of Arms in Nottingham: Vaisey’s Henchman, he did all of the dirty work for him, killing, torturing, you name it…”

She was livid but he didn’t let up for a second. “Come on now, you can’t tell me that this is news to you, you _knew_ what he was and yet you still allowed him to…”

“What. He. **Was.** ” She spoke slowly, enunciating each word for emphasis."You have just said it yourself…”

“Did he tell you about Marian? What he did to her?” He didn’t wait for a reply to his question, “She was my wife did you know that? I loved her and he…”

He was unable to finish the sentence.

He was looking at her but it was as if he was looking through her – his mind was somewhere far away and she wondered what he was seeing. After a few moments, he blinked and she could see he was with her again. “I can’t just stand by and watch him hurt another.”

Now she understood.

For the longest time she had wondered what had happened to Lady Marian and had been terrified to ask. She had known it must be something terrible for every time Marian's name was mentioned everybody clammed up and a pall seemed to fall over the atmosphere of the camp.

In the end it had been Kate of course, who had spilled the beans with one of her rants about Guy, and although Sarah had been horrified, she had found that some part of her had not been surprised. She remembered the broken man Guy had been at Locksley, the pitch of his hatred for Marian, for Robin Hood, but mostly for himself and it was then that she had known that his obsession for that Lady could only end in tragedy. 

Yes, she could understand Robin, he had every right to be worried considering what he had been through but still...

“He would never…”

“That’s what Marian thought.”

She shook her head. “He is not that man anymore.”

“How can you know that?”

“Because I knew him!” Her voice was becoming louder again; she could feel her temper flaring.

“How?”

“From Locksley.”

“Wait a minute; are you trying to tell me that you worked for him?”

She nodded. He was silent for a moment as it sank in but then he shook his head and began to laugh an ugly laugh; devoid of joy, hard and bitter.

“Do you know what happened to the last servant he had?”

“Yes.”

“And yet you still choose to…”

“What do you want from me Robin?”

She had long since had enough of this conversation and just wished he would get to the point.

He for his part honestly couldn’t say. He didn’t know. Well he did, but considering that this conversation hadn’t gone at all as he’d imagined, he knew better than to ask her.

_God she is like Marian! So stubborn!_

He would not talk her out of it, he could see that now. So determined was she to see the good in others. There was no chance that she would give up on Guy, just as Marian hadn’t. All he could do was hope that she would not come to a similar fate.

She waited a while for him to answer but when she realised that no answer was coming, she took a deep breath and with a soft voice began to speak;

“Robin, I have never understood why you saved Guy from execution. I have never understood why you took him in and why you have him living here with you in the forest. I have never understood how you can work together considering the past you both share. I thought that perhaps with time I would come to understand but I must confess I am more confused than ever…”

“That makes two of us.” He smiled. She returned the smile.

“And yet you have done all these things and you continue to do them. You cannot tell me why just as I cannot tell you why. You once said to me that everything we do is a choice and that is the best answer I can give you. I know what he has done, I know what he has been and yet I see what he _is_ , how much he has changed and how hard he is trying to be a good man, to be the good man that has always been there inside him and I choose to forgive him, to believe in him, to love him. You may think me a fool but there it is – make of it what you will but please don’t ask me why. For some things in this life Robin, there is no why.”

 


	20. Chapter 20

XX

“What’s that?”

Tuck had found something upon the ground. He picked it up to get a better look at it.

Gisborne walked over to see what he was looking at. He instantly recognised his mother’s locket.

“It’s Isabella’s. My mother gave it to her when she was a child. She worshipped her and… she cherished this.” He was genuinely surprised and confused to see the locket in Tuck’s hand.

Robin overheard the conversation and approached them both. “Well she wouldn’t give this to just anyone now would she? So what’s it doing here?”

Guy could see that both were now staring at him. “You think this is mine?”

“Well, she’s your sister Guy.” Robin was as suspicious as ever of the former Master of Arms.

“A sister that’s betrayed me many times and tried to kill me.”

Tuck was studying Guy’s face intently. “If there is any doubt about your loyalty…”

“Well there isn’t… would I have told you it was Isabella’s if there was?”

“Well if it’s not yours then whose is it?” Robin asked impatiently.

Gisborne had no idea. For all he knew, it was probably Robin’s, after all; he’d been getting pretty cosy with Isabella before she switched her allegiance to Prince John. He was about to give voice to this thought but then decided not to, it was bad enough that they suspected him, a fight with Locksley wasn’t really going to help matters.

And besides, when had he been alone long enough to go behind anyone’s back? Since the day he’d arrived in camp, he’d been under constant scrutiny - Christ, he couldn’t even go shag his girlfriend without somebody bloody barging in on them.

No, Locksley could think what he wanted, Guy knew it wasn’t his.

He turned his back to them both and placed the Locket on Robin’s bedroll. He waited a moment and upon hearing nothing from either man behind him, he walked off.

 

* * *

 

Sarah could use many words to describe life at the outlaws camp but ‘dull’ was certainly not one of them. Every day brought new surprises.

On this particular day, Sarah was gobsmacked to find Kate curled up on the floor beside Robin’s bedroll crying. She wondered if she was hallucinating, had Much put some dodgy mushrooms in the food perhaps?

Kate crying? That couldn’t be possible… She had never seen the woman display any other emotion other than anger (granted, that was of course, Kate’s default setting around Guy) and so it somehow seemed impossible to now witness her tears.

“Kate?” Sarah slowly approached only to have the blond turn her back directly.

“Leave me alone!”

“Kate, what is it?” She was careful to keep her distance.

Kate turned back to face her abruptly; pulling herself to her feet, and from the angry look on her face Sarah gathered that this was not to be a pleasant conversation. “It’s all his fault!” Her voice was venomous.

“Sorry?”

“Your lover!”

_Oh… Here we go…_

“If it wasn’t for him, _she_ wouldn’t be here!”

“Who?”

“Isabella!” Kate threw something on the ground at Sarah’s feet. Sarah wondered for a second if it might not be better to get the hell out of there: the woman was seething and any conversation about Guy or Isabella was sure not to go well. She warily bent down to pick the object up, her eyes never leaving Kate for a second.

“What is this?” She asked turning the two halves of the locket over in her fingers.

“I found it on Robin’s bed, it belongs to _her._ ”

Sarah could see that she was becoming upset again. She took a step forward but Kate turned her back again. She found herself pitying her for she had to admit that this didn’t look good – to find another woman’s locket on your man’s bed was well… awful.

“Have you spoken to him?”

Kate stormed over to her, snatching the locket from her fingers and thrusting it in Sarah’s face “What could he possibly say to explain _that_?”

Sarah remained silent for a moment before wondering aloud, “Guy mentioned that they were briefly together before you and he…”

“She used him!” Kate interrupted angrily.

“Even so, perhaps she gave it to him then…”

“Then why would he keep it?”

Sarah sighed. It was a good question. “It seems strange for I have hardly ever heard him speak of her and even when he did he never had anything good to say about her.”

“Just because he doesn’t say anything…” Kate’s voice was choked with tears. Sarah wanted to reach out to her but knew better than to try.

“You should speak to him…”

“It’s too late!” Kate began hastily gathering her things together and throwing them into a bag.

“Kate there might be another explanation…”

“There isn’t.”

“Maybe he was going to sell it, I mean look at it, it’s pretty big, he’d probably get quite a bit of money for it.” Sarah was clutching at straws here she knew but she just couldn’t get her head around the idea of Robin and Isabella, the only woman he ever seemed to speak of to her was… Marian.

_Kate don’t you see? We are both living in her shadow…_

Her thoughts were interrupted by Kate’s shrill angry tones; “If he was going to sell it, it wouldn’t be on his bed – it would be with all the other stuff we’ve stolen to sell!”

_Ah, yes, there was that…_

Sarah watched in silence as Kate continued to pack, wanting to say something to calm her down and stop her from leaving but she just couldn’t find the words.

“Where will you go?”

“Home to my family.”

“Don’t go like this, at least talk to him first.”

“We’ve talked enough.”

She began to walk away and Sarah stood there helpless. “Please Kate, at least think about it. What if something were to happen to him? You’d never forgive yourself for leaving like this…”

Kate rounded on her angrily. “What do you care? You’re with Gisborne! You’re not in a position to give anybody advice are you?”

Sarah took a step back visibly startled and could only shake her head as she watched Kate storm off.

_Well that’ll teach you for sticking your nose in Sarah…_

She sighed and sat down upon Guy’s bed. She supposed she could’ve been offended by that last comment but then again she knew that it was better not to dwell too much on anything Kate said. This thought reminded Sarah of a conversation she’d had not so long ago with Tuck about why Kate hated Guy so much…

“He killed Kate’s brother…”

Sarah must have looked appalled as he said this for he felt compelled to explain further, “In Gisborne’s defence, I must say that the boy did try and attack him with a sword…”

Sarah had seen Guy in the forest training with a sword and knew that he had lightening quick reactions, this equipped with a lightening quick temper made for a dangerous combination.

“Still, it doesn’t make her loss any easier…”

“Is there nothing we can do for her?”

“I hope that in time she will find consolation but to do that she must let go of her anger and try to forgive…” Tuck smiled but it was not a smile of hope, much more one of sympathy.

Sarah understood. Not even Tuck, a man of faith, could believe in the miracle of Kate’s forgiveness. Forgiveness is after all a choice; one has to choose to forgive and as things stood, it seemed highly unlikely that she would ever make that choice.

And so it seemed that Guy too was being made to pay - to pay for the act of a moment. And just as it had been with Sarah he would never be able to pay his debt in full and no matter what he did, it would never be enough.

But then she considered how far he had come since she first knew him and knew that the changes in him were a result of his attempts to redeem himself - Kate, along with the many others he had wronged, would probably never forgive him, but that did not mean that there that there was nothing to be gained in the attempt or that there was no point in trying.

She loved him because he tried; she would not give up on him if he didn’t give up on himself, no matter what anyone else had to say about it.


	21. Chapter 21

XXI

“There’s been a change of plan.”

Sarah’s stomach lurched upon hearing this. Those were never the words one wanted to hear before one’s lover embarked upon a risky mission. In fact, she had felt uneasy since the very moment Guy had mentioned the tunnel as a way into the castle, for although it was a good plan, there was no way to know if the tunnel had at some point been discovered by the current Sheriff and the men were going to end up walking into a trap.

“It’s Allan, we can’t take him with us – Isabella has pardoned him for services rendered.” Guy sighed, no matter how often he thought it or said it, it still sounded wrong.

“What? That’s ridiculous! What service could he have possibly done her? He’s been here with us the whole time!” Sarah frowned at Guy; he couldn’t believe it surely?

“I don’t know Sarah; this isn’t the first time… If I managed to get to him back then, then it’s possible that she has managed to now.” He was making a fair point but he didn’t sound convinced.

“Where is he now?”

“Tied up in camp.”

Sarah sighed. There it was again: the inability to forgive, in all its ugly glory. It seemed that Allan could never do enough to make up for what he’d done either: his time in Guy’s service would always follow him.

“Guy no! You can’t possibly allow this!”

He didn’t answer, he only looked to the floor, feeling distinctly uncomfortable with the situation.

He and Allan had become good friends since Guy had moved to camp. It had been a shaky start and they had avoided each other for a while – Allan had run out on Guy and the Sheriff to return to the outlaws just before the disastrous final trip to the holy land – hardly a good foundation for a friendship but there was something about Allan that had brought the Master of Arms round…

He was just… incredibly… likeable…

Guy had quickly found that despite all that had passed between them he was glad that he was there with him in the forest…

…and then there were the smartarse comments that never failed to amuse him…

…or that cheeky grin that he often felt like slapping off his face…

…or the way he seemed to say either exactly the wrong thing at the wrong moment or exactly the right thing at the right moment…

…or that he was often too clever or too charming for his own good…

They were nothing alike, a strange duo to be sure, but circumstances had thrown them together and in the face of mistrust by the other outlaws, it seemed that they could only find solace in a friendship with each other.

This is what made it so difficult for Guy to stomach what had just occurred and why as Sarah continued to voice her surprise and displeasure at this turn of events he made a decision…

He pulled his lady close and silenced her with a kiss. As his lips then left hers, she looked up at him somewhat flustered but then as he gave her a meaningful look and slipped his dagger into her fingers she understood.

“Emma and I will look after him for you, I promise.” she teased laughing softly.

Guy smiled and kissed the top of her head. “Just keep him out of trouble.” He whispered. He sighed and then kissed her again and again until he finally heard the sound of footsteps behind him and Much coughed loudly to signal that it was time to go.

 

* * *

 

“Look I haven’t done anythin’ I swear!” Those were the first words from Allan as the sisters approached him. He looked at them wildly, a panicky expression on his face and was straining helplessly against the ropes that held him.

“We know.” Sarah replied, striding directly to where he was tied up. He could see the dagger in her hand and for a split second began to hyperventilate, his mind not working properly, overcome with paranoia but then as she bent down to get a look at the ropes and began to slice through them he exhaled audibly. He couldn’t begin to describe how relieved he felt.

“I can’t believe they’ve done this to you!” Emma was shocked and angry to see him like this, that the others could doubt him was unfathomable to her. He suppressed a smile. That she believed him meant a lot to him.

He looked down to watch Sarah at work and it did not escape his notice whose dagger Sarah was using to free him and he couldn’t help but feel touched to know that his friend had also believed him.

As soon as Sarah removed the last of the ropes, he began dusting himself down, only to be caught in a full-on bear hug from Emma. He staggered back a step, surprised and overwhelmed to be surrounded by her warmth before settling his arms around her. It didn’t take long for his surprise to turn to happiness as he felt Emma nuzzle into him. It took him every ounce of willpower he had not to place his lips upon her hair before she came back down to earth and awkwardly broke the embrace. They both looked up to see that Sarah had turned slightly away from them with an amused smile on her lips.

“Thank you Sarah.” Allan took a step towards her and was dragged into yet another hug, this time from the older sister. He chuckled. “They should tie me up more often, I could get used to this!”

 

* * *

 

“It would take a lot of men to build a tunnel…”

Sarah was sitting with her sister and Allan in camp, thinking aloud.

“Yeah, a lot of men would’ve known about it but Giz reckoned they were ‘silenced’ - whatever that means…” Allan grimaced. Sarah shuddered. It didn’t bear thinking about.

“But surely whilst working on the tunnel they would’ve spoken about it to others… this is why I find it so hard to believe that nobody knows about it…” Sarah mused.

“There would’ve been guards involved an’ all, to make sure nobody stumbles upon the project.” Allan offered.

“And we all know how rubbish the guards are!” Emma added. All three began chuckling.

“And we all know what they do in their spare time…” Allan grinned broadly.

Sarah grinned back at him as it dawned on her. “Of course! Oh Allan, you’re a genius!”


	22. Chapter 22

XXII

The Trip Inn was a busy place and Sarah had to take care not to attract the wrong sort of attention. The irony had not escaped her that normally she would be there to attract exactly that sort of attention but today she was not there to charm men out of their money, no, the goal today was a different one.

She wasted no time in finding the woman she was looking for and escorting her to a quieter corner of the premises. “Sarah! Long time, no see! Where have you been?” Ursula asked whilst embracing her wholeheartedly.

Sarah smiled; it was good to see a friendly face. Ursula, or Ushi, as everybody called her, was one of the lovely serving wenches of the Trip and had been a good friend to Sarah ever since she had left her position at Locksley.

“Keeping a low profile.” Sarah replied vaguely.

“Aye, better that you do, guards have been in here lookin’ for yer, ever since that Dartford thing…” Ursula noticed Sarah stiffen at the mention of it and put her hand reassuringly upon her shoulder, “Don’t you worry Sarah, word is that he got into a spot of bother with the wrong fella and has done a bunk. We’re all glad to have seen the last of him, despicable man…”

Sarah felt relieved, she knew that this was not the end of her troubles but it was good to know that she had people on her side.

“I wouldn’t worry about the guards either, we all know what they’re like don’t we? That lot don’t know their arse from their elbow!” Ursula laughed heartily and Sarah couldn’t help but join in.

“Funny you should mention the guards because I was wondering if some had been in here talking about a certain building project at the castle…” Sarah was interrupted by an amused groan from her companion.

“Talkin’ about the tunnel you mean?” Ursula chuckled and gave her companion a knowing look.

Sarah sighed. She was shocked that Ursula knew but somehow not surprised – secrets tend to not remain secret when a great many people know.

“A bloke’s been in here already today askin’ our ‘resident expert’ about it.” Ursula gestured to a very inebriated individual sat in a dark corner of the Inn. Sarah’s eyes widened in shock. The tone of Ursula’s voice and the fact that the man was totally hammered suggested that ‘resident expert’ was an honorary title and not an accurate description.

“The guards often come in ‘ere and get chattin’ to ‘im, that’s how he found out about the tunnel…”

“I gather he’s not been very discreet with the information.” Sarah quipped.

“Once he gets a few ales down ‘im, he tells anyone who’ll listen - whole Inn knows about it I shouldn’t wonder, if not the whole town...”

Sarah facepalmed. _Oh Guy, it seems everyone knows about your ‘secret’ tunnel…_

“He’s celebrating today…” Ursula gestured again to the drunken patron, “The bloke who came in here askin’ about the tunnel gave him a load of money – he needn’t have bothered, if he had just bought ‘im a couple of jars that would’ve done it just as well…” Ursula laughed loudly and Sarah shook her head. The whole thing was absurd.

“Do you know the man?”

“Nah, from out of town I reckon, if he’d been from round ‘ere he’d have known better than to give his life savings to scuzzy over there…”

“Another round Ushi! Drinks are on Archer today!” The drunk yelled before belching loudly and slumping over in his seat.

_Archer!_

_Guy’s half-brother!_

Sarah had never met him and had only found out about his existence recently. Guy was not a fan of talking about the past and it was always difficult to coax any details out of him, especially when it came to subjects like his family and what had happened to them.

She had heard the name mentioned in camp a few times by Robin and Much and when she had asked Allan to elaborate, that is how she had learned of him. She had then tried broach the subject with Guy and as was his custom he had acted as if the fact that he shared a half-brother with Robin was not really anything worth discussing. Sarah had long since resigned herself to the fact that Guy was a dark horse and that there was much in his past that she was yet to know about.

Her thoughts drifted back to Archer and the present situation.

_What could he be wanting with the tunnel?_

 

* * *

 

Sarah’s first thoughts upon leaving the Trip were about getting to Guy. First, she had to speak to Allan though. He had been keeping an eye on the Inn with Emma; ready to signal the alert if any guards came looking for Sarah.

“So what’s the verdict?” He asked as soon as they removed to a more secluded place nearby.

“Every man and his dog knows about the tunnel.” Sarah replied unhappily.

“Probably not a good idea to go down it then.” Allan remarked before beginning to walk off in that very direction. God Bless Allan, the men could even tie him up and he would still think nothing of going to help them.

“Allan, wait a second!” Sarah caught up with him and pulled him off to one side. Emma rolled her eyes; she knew what Sarah was going to say to him.

“I need you to stay with Emma whilst I go to Guy.”

He was about to protest but then saw the determined look on Sarah’s face, “Please Allan.”

He looked at Emma and could already discern an unhappy look on the young girl’s face, “She’s not gonna like it.”

“I know. That’s why you’re going to persuade her how important it is to keep an eye on things outside the castle…”

“Then why are you going in it? Guy’s not gonna like this either…”

“Guy is not going to like watching you get tied up again because the others still think you’re a traitor.”

He nodded unhappily, knowing she was right. “But who’s going to look after you?”

She pulled Guy’s dagger from her sleeve, “Why this is, Allan…”

 

* * *

 

The tunnel was blocked.

Sarah wondered if she had taken a wrong turn and searched the tunnel frantically to see if there was another way through but no, she had missed no turning and there were no other passages.

She looked upon the heavy door that blocked her way and her stomach lurched violently. She wanted to believe that the men had arrived at the door and turned back, but somehow she knew that this wasn’t the case. She put her ear to it in the hope of hearing something but all was silent. She took a few steps back to see if there was some way she could overcome the barrier. She then saw the rope at the side of it and hope swelled in her chest - if she could just pull hard enough, she should be able to open it. The problem was that it was too high, try as she might, she just couldn’t reach it. She was about to go look for something that she could place in front of the door to climb upon when she heard noises coming from the entrance to the tunnel.

She froze.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.

She looked around to see if there was somewhere to hide, but was most distressed to find that there wasn’t. She began to panic. She would be captured surely… and thrown in the dungeon…

_Oh God, what will they do to me?_

She could’ve screamed in frustration – all she’d wanted to do was come to Guy’s aid and look what a mess she’d made of it! She should have known that this would go pear-shaped – the tunnel was so secret that they might as well have put a huge bloody sign outside the entrance and charged admission…

As she heard footsteps becoming louder, she took a deep breath and gripped the dagger tightly, it was still hidden in her sleeve but if anybody was going to try anything, she would be ready for them. She could hear her heart beating wildly in her chest and could feel the muscles in her body tense as fear and adrenaline coursed through her veins. Her instincts screamed at her to get out of there but her reasoning screamed back that there was nowhere to go…

And then as she saw Kate it was as if her whole body deflated. She never thought in her entire life that she would be so relieved to see her. A strange noise escaped her throat, half laugh half sob, and she had an overwhelming desire to hug the woman. Guy would’ve been highly amused about that.

“Sarah! What are you doing here?”

“Same thing as you.” She replied with a large grin on her face; not even Kate’s annoying shrill tones could bother her right now.

“Hello there, I’m Archer.”

Sarah looked up to see a tall, dashingly handsome man reach out his hand to shake hers. She was about to give him her name in reply and shake his hand but was shoved out of the way by Kate.

“We’ve not got time for this!” The blond yelled impatiently and began leaping up to try and reach the rope.

“I would not normally be so impolite but she’s right, we have to get them out of there.” Archer said before unceremoniously hoisting Kate up so that she could reach.

And then Sarah looked on in horror as the body of her beloved was swept out from behind the ascending door on a wave of God knows what, to land in a heap at her feet.

 

 


	23. Chapter 23

XXIII

Sarah had no memory of what happened next, she was running on pure adrenaline at the time and that is why she had no idea how she managed to pull Guy’s heavy form out of the deluge that had submerged him.

All she knew is that moments later, as he opened his eyes and his body shook with his first breath, she was knelt upon the floor, he was lying in her arms with his torso resting upon her thighs, his head cradled in the crook of her arm, and she was holding him up so she could pepper his face with kisses. There was commotion all around her and she could hear Kate frantically willing Robin to breathe but she was focussed solely on Guy.

He was dazed but his lips responded to hers before he even knew where he was or what he was doing. She kissed him over and over, ignoring the confused look that took over his features as his senses returned, she knew she was not supposed to be there - he had told her to stay away from the castle and had been very emphatic about it, but that was unimportant right now, all that mattered was that he was alive.

At some point, she let up in her amorous assault to get a good look at him and he looked… well, like a man who had nearly been smothered to death by… whatever the hell all this white stuff was... limestone? She was trying to get it off him as he rolled onto his side and began to cough, one arm snaking round her waist to pull himself up into a sitting position. She glanced over to see that Robin was alive and being fussed over by Kate, and then behind her to see that Much was also back in the world of the living. Archer was staring at her, one eyebrow raised questioningly but she did not have much time to think about that for Guy pulled her possessively into his lap and kissed her hard.

Archer looked on in surprise. As he’d first encountered the girl, he’d had no time to think about why she might be there but if he’d had the time, he still would never have assumed that she could be there for Gisborne. Robin or Much maybe but Guy? He’d heard a number of unsavoury things about his half-brother since their first meeting in York, things that would not secure him so devoted a companion as was now whole-heartedly surrendering to his kiss and so he could only look on astounded whilst tending to Much nearby.

At some point Guy’s ego kicked in and his initial joy at being alive and having Sarah at his side was replaced by the sting to his pride at having being disobeyed by her. “I told you not to come here…” He growled, “It is not safe…”

He had no chance to continue the scolding however for Kate was explaining to Robin about the locket, which led to the realisation that Allan was innocent and that “Isabella had been playing with them all along” as Robin so aptly put it.

“Guy, it is as my younger sister once said; none of us is safe, your sister is Sheriff and it seems she can get to us wherever she pleases, whether we are in the castle or the town or the forest…” She looked only at him but could hear murmurs of agreement from the others, “She can get to us through our families…” She looked to Kate as she said this, referring to the lie her mother had told about the locket, “…through good friends like Allan…” She looked critically at Robin and then Much as she said this and they both looked to the floor, knowing now that they had made a mistake in not believing him.

“…and through our ambitions.” Archer interrupted with a remorseful look on his face - he had been responsible for the trap, his desire to earn enough money to leave England overriding any decency or loyalty towards his half-brothers.

“She has to be stopped.” Kate declared venomously.

Robin looked at her with determination. “Yes Kate, she does.”

 

* * *

 

If Emma thought that she was missing out on the action by not being in the Castle she was mistaken. Practically from the moment Sarah had left her and Allan at the Trip, they were on the run. At first, they had thought that it was the Sheriff’s guards in pursuit but they quickly discovered that it was in fact Prince John’s men.

Luckily, they made an excellent team. Allan had the idea to lure the men into the forest and so was able to take advantage of being on familiar turf and more importantly make good use of the outlaw camp’s traps. They had managed to deal with quite a number of men this way but there was however still the problem of getting hit by arrows and one group of men in particular was proving dangerous in this respect. After a number of near misses, Emma came up with a plan.

She split up from Allan, hiding behind a tree and watched as he lured the group off in a particular direction before approaching them from behind and so catching them off guard.

“Please Sirs, would you help me? I am not from these parts and fear that I have lost my way.” She was channelling her best ‘damsel in distress’ as she said this, trying to look and sound pathetic.

The men stopped where they stood dumbfounded. She looked up from under her lashes and could see that most of them were now getting over their initial shock and had begun smiling curiously.

“I am most distressed for I hear that there are outlaws in these parts!” She exclaimed loudly, putting her hand up to her forehead in a mock display of helplessness, repressing a self-satisfied smirk as she did so.

Allan heard this from not so far away and stopped dead in his tracks. For a split second, he panicked, wondering if she had gone mad but then he realised what she was doing: she was distracting them… and they were standing in just the right spot too…

“If one of you fine Sirs would be so good as to show me the way to Locksley…”

She could’ve laughed out loud as she saw the men all at once clamouring to help her.

_And you say I never pay attention sister, oh but I do and you taught me well…_

She quickly backed away and it was then that the net descended. Allan wasted no time in then attacking the men in their confusion, rendering all unconscious except one. This man became very nervous upon seeing his companions out cold and desperately tried to free himself from the net but then ceased in the attempt: two daggers were pointed very close to vital parts of his body, one in the hand of the outlaw and the other in the hand of the ‘helpless maiden’.

“Easy there my friend, how about we have a chat about what you and your mates are doing ‘ere in Nottingham eh…?”

 


	24. Chapter 24

XXIV

It can’t be a good feeling to discover you’ve taken a castle only to discover that it is under siege.

Likewise, it can’t be pleasant to come face to face with a man you assumed you had killed.

Guy had put a blade in a lot of people over the years and of all those people, the last person he would’ve wanted to survive turned out to be the one that did.

_If anyone could’ve survived, why couldn’t it have been Marian?_

Guy would never admit it but at that moment, he found that he could do with some words of wisdom from Allan. Even in the direst of situations, Allan could always perfectly sum things up in his own wonderful way. The discovery that Vaisey lived was ripe for the sarcastic commentary that only Allan could provide and Guy sorely missed it. Still it comforted him to know that his friend was out there in Sherwood and not stuck in the castle with the rest of them…

There was much to be done. The current occupants of Nottingham Castle were hopelessly outnumbered and as most of them were farmers and the like, one couldn’t really expect much in the way of fighting either. The best one could do was put a sword or bow in their hands, show them the basics and hope they don’t maim themselves or each other.

First order of the day however was Isabella. Ever since she’d betrayed him, Guy had been longing for his revenge but now that the moment had arrived, he found that his conscience was plaguing him. He knew that not so long ago, as he had been at her mercy, she’d barely batted an eyelid as she’d ordered his execution but still, it pained him to think that it had come to this. He shook his head as if to shake off his doubts about what he was about to do and placed the vial of poison in his pocket.

He had been over it a thousand times in his mind but was still wrestling with his feelings. At times, the thought of Meg and the role Isabella had played in her death would strengthen his resolve to go through with his plan. But then at other times, it was the image of his mother that dominated his mind – it broke his heart to think that if she could see them from heaven, she would weep bitter tears for they were both a far cry from the children they had once been.

_I wish it could’ve been different Isabella, I failed you I know but I never had a choice…_

Isabella may have thought that Guy had condemned her to a life of hell with Thornton but she had no concept of what the alternatives would have been like. Thornton had not been the only interested party; indeed, there had been a number of suitors for her and it made Guy shudder to think how it would’ve been for her had she ended up with any one of _them_.

Nor was she aware that Guy had been opposed to marrying her off at all, but at that point in his life, Vaisey had had him in such a chokehold that he’d been forced to do unspeakable things so that she would end up with Thornton and not somebody far worse.

The option of no marriage - that is of her staying with him and Vaisey had been no option at all. No matter what Isabella may have thought about her life with Thornton, Guy knew that she would never have survived a life with Vaisey. It made him feel ill just thinking of it.

He sighed. It was no good going over this again. The damage was done. The castle was about to fall and even if they survived the siege, the future held nothing good for either of them. Whoever came out of this victorious, Prince John or King Richard, it made no difference: they would pay for the things they had done, be the penalty death, imprisonment or servitude.

She might still be hoping for a happy end with Prince John but he knew better. She was in Prince John’s good graces now but Guy knew all too well that it wouldn’t take long for him to tire of her just as he did of everyone else and then where would she be? Her life with Thornton would seem like a picnic in comparison.

_You have left a lap dog for a hellhound sister…_

There was nothing else for it. As terrible as he felt, it was all he could do for her. At least she would have a choice, he reasoned, and that was more than most of the poor souls downstairs waving swords about would have, himself included…

His fingers tightened around the vial and he left his chambers for the dungeons.

 

* * *

 

It was a waiting game now, Sarah knew that much.

Upon entering the castle, Guy had been vehemently opposed to her helping with the capture of Isabella and as it became apparent that they were under siege, he had also been very clear in his wishes for her to steer clear of any ongoing military preparations. She didn’t much like being relegated to helping with various menial tasks but didn’t grumble – he was overbearing in his desire to protect her but then again he had good reason to be. And who knew how much longer they had upon this earth? No, it would be better not to spend her remaining hours quarrelling with Guy.

However, there was only so much any of them could do to prepare; their resources were limited and it remained to be seen how they would hold up against the forces waiting to attack on the nearby hill. As much as one tried to be brave, it was only normal to feel somewhat helpless in the face of such a mighty war machine and in needing distraction from her gloomy thoughts she had taken it upon herself to look around the castle to see if anything of use could be found to help them in their struggles.

She couldn’t help but smile as she stumbled upon Isabella’s quarters. The lady in question was locked up in the dungeons, surely it wouldn’t hurt to take a look?

As she emerged from the rooms not a half hour later, she could happily reflect that no, it hadn’t hurt at all - in fact a look at Isabella’s things had been very helpful indeed…

 

* * *

 

“Hello there, I’m here to help around the castle and since I can’t help the men with the fighting and whatnot, I figured I’d make sure you’re all fed and watered.”

Sarah was on the charm offensive. She smiled sweetly as she offered the guard a drink from the tray she was carrying. Unfortunately, the guard appeared not to be going for it, he narrowed his eyes suspiciously, as he looked her up and down.

_Trust me to get the only guard in Nottingham who is actually diligent in his work._

She carried on regardless, “Come, don’t be shy, I’m sure you could do with some refreshment.”

“I better not.” The guard replied warily.

Sarah sighed. _He must be new. Doesn’t he realise that being crap at the job is a requirement?_

“Who are you?” A loud demanding voice from inside the nearest cell interrupted Sarah’s thoughts. She placed the tray of drinks upon a nearby table (actually it was some kind of torture device but at this point Sarah was not fussy about where she served the drinks) and turned her attention to the woman who could only be Guy’s sister.

“As I explained, I’m here to help…”

“Yes, I heard that but who are you?” Isabella’s tone was icy, her features were twisted into a haughty expression, from the look on her face one could never have assumed that she was currently locked in a dungeon and not really in any position to look down upon anybody – she looked as if butter wouldn’t melt.

_A charming sister you have Guy..._

“I am merely a servant…”

“Not here you’re not – I’ve never seen you before.” Isabella interrupted, looking at Sarah as if she’d caught her with her fingers in the Sheriff’s coffers.

Sarah remained unperturbed, “No ma’am that is because I’ve been appointed here by somebody else.” She gave Isabella a meaningful look as she said this and then watched her closely to see if she would buy it.

Isabella sprang forward and grasped at the bars of the cell, her expression urgent. “Who sent you?”

“I’m sorry but I must ask you to leave, I can’t have you speaking to the prisoner.” The guard interrupted, Isabella’s sudden movements were making him nervous. Sarah continued to look at Isabella, a small smile on her lips, she might not be able to charm the guard but…

“Who sent you?” Isabella was shouting now.

The guard stepped forward and grabbed Sarah’s elbow, she smoothly pulled it from his grasp.

“Alright, take it easy… I’m merely here to help, there’s no need to escort me out, I know my way.” She spoke to him as if she was soothing the nerves of an irritable child, which in a sense she was. She took one final look at Isabella, flashing her a knowing smile as she did so and then casually left the room making sure to leave the tray of drinks as she did so.

_Not long now - half an hour tops I reckon…_

 

* * *

 

The scene she returned to not long after was as expected – the guard was out cold, slumped not far from the bars of the cell, an empty goblet at his side. The drinks had of course been spiked with copious amounts of herbal sedative, and Isabella had successfully persuaded him to partake, just as Sarah had known she would. The woman in question was now pacing her cell like a caged animal awaiting her release. Upon seeing Sarah return she smiled, her expression annoyingly smug. Sarah secretly revelled in the knowledge that she was about to wipe that smug expression off her face.

She bent down next to the guard and after making sure he was completely unconscious relieved him of his keys. She then approached the door of the cell, her eyes not leaving Isabella for a second.

“We must make haste mi ’lady, as you know the castle is under siege and Prince John does not trust Vaisey to leave you unharmed.”

Isabella’s eyes lit up upon hearing these words and Sarah knew that she now had her exactly where she wanted her. As she unlocked the door, Isabella beamed at her.

Sarah was also smiling but for a very different reason. “Here mi ‘lady, you’ll be needing this…” Sarah hastily placed a dagger in Isabella’s hand, making sure to nick the skin as she did so.

Isabella sprang from her in shock and the involuntary movement made the blade slit further along her palm. The knife clattered to the ground. The pained look on her face quickly turned to one of fury. “You imbecile!” She screamed, clutching her injured hand tightly.

“I’m sorry mi ‘lady!” Sarah knew she had to be quick now and had grabbed the woman’s wrist and began dabbing at the injured palm with a scrap of cloth before she could react, “I never meant to…”

Isabella impatiently pulled her hand away. “Get off me, you idiot!” She shrieked, backing away from her.

Sarah said nothing – only watched her intently. As Isabella’s steps began to falter, she began to smile. “Well actually I did…”

Isabella froze, and then staggered forwards; eyes wide in shock and confusion.

“Yes, I did mean to and I can’t say I’m sorry for it either.” Sarah’s smile was easily as smug as Isabella’s had been earlier.

“What have you done to me?” Isabella cried, her eyes darting about the room in panic as she tried desperately to stay on her feet.

“Valerian root.” She announced triumphantly, waving the cloth (which was liberally laced with it) in front of her. Isabella stared at her in horror. “Enough to knock out a horse…” Isabella sank to her knees and then fell forwards, her arms shaking as she tried to hold herself up. Sarah took the opportunity to retrieve the dagger from the floor. As Isabella sank to the floor, Sarah lay her upon her side and then began dabbing once more at the wound on her palm – she wanted to be certain that she got a good dose of her own medicine.

She tilted Isabella’s head up so she could get a good look at her - she was rapidly losing consciousness but Sarah knew she could still hear her.

“Guy told me how you like using this upon people; I thought that I would return the favour.”

 


	25. Chapter 25

 

XXV

“I feel terrible.” Much declared unhappily to no one in particular. He was standing in the courtyard with Little John and Tuck who were both wondering if they really wanted to hear this right now. Their current situation was certainly not a happy one and the last thing they needed right now was Much adding to the gloom.

Eventually Tuck broke the uncomfortable silence. “What is it Much?”

“I can’t help thinking about Allan…” Much was fidgeting with a bow and arrow, his eyes firmly fixed upon the ground, “…how we didn’t believe him, how we treated him…”

Little John swallowed hard. He’d been trying not to think about it.

“Much I’m not sure it’s a good idea to go over this now, I mean we could all perish on the morrow.” Tuck was right but still Much was sorry for what he’d done. He’d had good reason to mistrust Allan for he’d betrayed them in the past, something that Much, who was so loyal to Robin, could hardly comprehend but then again he had done so much to help them since then…

They would never be great friends, he knew – they were too dissimilar and Allan could not seem to resist making him the butt of his jokes whenever possible but still he would never want anything to happen to the man and certainly not without having made his peace with him.

“At least he’s out there…” Little John said quietly.

“…and he’s not alone; Emma is with him, I’m sure if anything can take his mind off what happened with us, it is that.” Tuck chuckled.

“Yes well that is something isn’t it?” Much seemed to perk up at this thought.

“Come my friend; let us go see what the castle kitchens have to offer for supper, it is going to be a long night and we need to keep our strength up.” Tuck clapped him upon the shoulder and Much began to smile. He nodded and they headed on their way but not before Tuck shot Little John an amused smirk.

Little John grinned. Food never failed to cheer Much.

 

* * *

 

“You had me worried there for a minute!”

Upon regaining consciousness, Allan blinked hard several times before he was seized by an incredible wave of pain in his shoulder. He looked up at Emma who was kneeling beside him, she was smiling but her face was wet with tears. He began to panic, worried that Prince John’s men were still on their tail but she quickly moved to soothe him. “It’s alright; we managed to make it to the cave before you passed out. It is as you said - well hidden; they’ll not find us here.”

She stroked his forehead tenderly, pushing his hair from his face and for a moment, he closed his eyes, comforted by her touch but then the pain returned full force and all he could feel was a painful throbbing in his shoulder.

“You are very lucky Allan, had the arrow hit you further to the right we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”

He could have no idea how terrified she’d been to see him fall; it was as if her heart had jolted hard in her chest and ceased to beat. The entire world had stopped for a split second and then all had been terrible panic, the likes she had never known of before. She knew not how she had managed to get him up and off the ground and away from their pursuers, she only knew that they’d had to hide and her body had trembled for fear of discovery and he’d had to bite down on his hand to stop himself from whimpering in pain…

God knows how they’d made it to the cave (another outlaw hideout that had been a godsend over the years) but it was a good job that they had for not long after Allan had passed out.

She took his hand in hers and he squeezed tightly, she grimaced but then began to laugh. “Don’t crush it Allan! Last thing we need is me injured as well!”

He began laughing as well but the vibrations through his shoulder made him wince. “Trust me to go do something daft like take an arrow to the shoulder…”

“Well maybe next time one of Prince John’s men tells you that there’s an army on the outskirts of Nottingham you’ll run away from it and not towards it!” she quipped mischievously.

“Well I figured they’d have no chance against you and me…” His smile was pure charm and her heart swelled to see it. She was on the verge of tears again because in passing out he had scared her and the relief she felt that he was back with her was overwhelming.

“Admit it, you were just trying to impress me!” she teased.

“Did it work?” He looked her directly in the eye, in that way that only he could and it made her feel afraid: afraid of the way he made her feel, afraid of what she might do or say, afraid that she had no control over herself. She could feel her body trembling, and was afraid that he would notice it, how could he not, lay at her knees as he was?

But then it was the strangest thing: she became calm and it was as if somebody had lifted all her fears and doubts from her. She had known for a long time that she loved him but in that moment, it didn’t terrify her anymore. He continued to look up at her expectantly but she had completely forgotten what it was that he had just asked her - it didn’t matter, nothing mattered now, other than that he was with her. She gave him a small smile and then let her body guide her to where it wanted to be: in his arms.

He for his part, was a little slow to understand, perhaps not trusting himself to believe what she was doing, perhaps just as terrified as she had been moments before. But his body knew, just as hers did, and without even realising it, his fingers curled around her waist pulling her into him.

It was then that it happened.

As it had been destined to happen since the very moment they had laid eyes upon each other…

…she kissed him...

…and he felt no pain.

 


	26. Chapter 26

XXVI

“I wish that… no… it’s no use...”

“What is it?” Sarah placed a gentle kiss upon her beloved’s chest to set him at ease. He was not the most talkative and certainly not whilst lay in bed with her.

“It is silly to think of such things now…” He was playing with a lock of her hair. She raised her head from his chest and looked up at him, an amused smile upon her face.

“Go on…” she prompted. He went to kiss her hungrily, his hands moving down her body to pull her up but before his lips could claim hers, she placed a hand over his mouth. “Oh no you don’t! I know this tactic well! Come on now; tell me what you were thinking about…”

His eyes were pure amused wickedness as he began to kiss her fingers whilst pulling her up so that she was now straddled upon him. She bit her lip to stifle a moan as he began to grind up against her. “I would say that is fairly obvious wouldn’t you?”

She rolled her eyes and knew it was futile, there would be no more discussion about anything. But then he surprised her, his thumbs ghosted over her hips before one hand lay flat upon her stomach. “So beautiful…”

Her mouth fell open; she had not expected to hear him say that. He looked up at her proud, his fingers still caressing the sensitive skin of her midriff, “you shall bear me fine sons my sweet...”

She was about to argue that considering their current situation that seemed unlikely but decided against it, not wishing to spoil the moment. He slid one of his hands slowly and deliberately up her body, stopping to fondle her breasts and she closed her eyes, her head falling backwards, her breath hitching, her body arching into his touch. His hips were still moving, grinding into her, but he made no move to take her fully, merely enjoying touching her, teasing her, driving her mad with anticipation.

“…I will build a grand house for us all on the Gisborne lands…” he continued, one hand digging into her hip to hold her steady as he shifted to sit up, the other moving up to cup her jaw, his thumb sliding over her bottom lip. She moaned.

“…no more forest, no more bedrolls…” his lips made contact with her throat, and the vibration of his deep voice against her skin made her shiver. “… I will have a bed fit for a queen put in…”

She groaned as he trailed hot open-mouthed kisses down her throat, “Guy please.”

She could feel him smirk against her skin. “What? You don’t want to talk now?” His voice was husky and he continued moving down her body with his mouth.

“Oh God.” She was panting now, her voice thin and she wondered that she was coherent at all.

“Perhaps you are with child already?” He whispered against her collarbone, sinking in his teeth. She cried out and he sucked hard enough to leave a mark. Not long now, he knew, not long, for her cries did things to him she would never know. “...perhaps we made a little one in the forest…”

She felt his fingers splay over the small of her back and as his lips hovered over her nipple she whimpered. God when had he become such a tease?

“Perhaps we’ve already made one in this bed…” he took her nipple in his mouth, gently raking his teeth over it and she cried out again, louder this time. “… or perhaps we’ll make one now hmm…?”

“Guy…” her voice was thick with lust, her fingers slid up to the nape of his neck, tangling in his hair, and pushing him closer to her.

He laughed quietly before lavishing her other breast with the same attention he’d devoted to the first. He then raised his head up to get a good look at his work: oh yes, that would do nicely - she looked utterly delicious, her body writhing under his lips like that. “What say you my lady? How about it?”

She opened her eyes to see Guy smiling at her, the picture of wickedness. “You are a devil.” She teased breathlessly.

“Oh no, I won’t have that, I haven’t done anything yet.” She felt him shift beneath her and could feel him rock hard at her core. She gasped.

“Perhaps I should stop with this sinfulness...?” He stilled his hips and she literally growled. He bit his lip to stifle his laughter; did she know how adorable she was when angry?

He moved his lips close to her ear and after what seemed like an expectant eternity whispered:

“Or perhaps you would prefer to find out how devilish I can be?”

 

* * *

 

Archer was a good way off from Guy’s chamber but still he heard it: the unmistakable sound of a woman crying out in pleasure. He stopped dead in his tracks as if he had just walked in on them both but then he grinned, shook his head and continued on his way. His grin became a laugh as he came ever closer, he had been worried about not being able to find the right room but now realised that he needn’t have been; indeed, based on the enthusiasm of her pleasure he shouldn’t wonder if the entire castle knew where his brother was currently located. In fact, God himself would probably know, for she was taking HIS name in vain so often it was positively blasphemous.

He cleared his throat loudly as he neared the door but they had either not heard him or were carrying on regardless with what he liked to call a vigorous bout of horizontal dancing.

He knocked loudly upon the door. “Guy?”

At first, there was silence but then upon hearing a loud male groan that was certainly not one of pleasure, he had to clamp his hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing.

“What is it?” the very impatient voice of his brother barked from inside.

“Guy, they’re asking for you downstairs.” Archer tried to hide the amusement in his voice but it was impossible.

“So?”

Archer could hear the continuation of the primal rhythm that everybody who had ever had sex in the world knew so well. He shook his head laughing quietly; he couldn’t say that he blamed them. “So… they sent me to fetch you.”

He heard various noises from inside including a male groan, this time of pleasure, before he eventually received the exasperated reply of “What is so important?”

“It’s Kate; she’s flown the coop apparently…” Archer replied grinning broadly, he knew this wouldn’t go down well and it amused him no end.

“I. DO. NOT. CARE.” Each word was punctuated by a loud banging of the head of the bed against the wall. Archer bit down hard upon his bottom lip to stop the fit of laughter threatening to emerge.

“Guy!” Sarah protested loudly at the sudden gear change in their lovemaking and Archer found he could hold back no longer – his body shook with laughter and he struggled to get a grip on himself. God, what had he gotten himself into here? As he calmed down and put his ear to the door, he heard whispered apologies and endearments from his brother and then the sound of kissing.

_Hmm… perhaps it's time for a different tactic…_

“Look Guy, I know it’s not exactly on your list of priorities right now…” He began tentatively

"You can say that again." came the muffled reply from the bed chamber.

“But let’s put it this way, if you don’t finish up here soon they’ll send Much and believe me, the last thing you want is him up here wittering on at you from outside the door…”

Silence.

Guy was deliberating.

Archer smiled. He knew a good argument when he saw one.

“Alright! Alright! I get it! Now will you bugger off so I can finish fu…”

Guy didn’t finish the sentence and Archer assumed from the noises that emanated from the man after that, it was because Sarah had shut him up by doing something especially pleasurable to him.

He took this as his cue to leave.

 

* * *

 

Not long after, Archer was sitting in the great hall with the others as Guy descended the staircase with the nonchalance of a man who had not been enthusiastically and energetically fornicating all evening but merely resting. He casually smoothed down the front of his leathers, glanced coolly at the men assembled and calmly asked,

“So, what’s happening?”

It was at that moment that Archer decided that he liked his brother.

 


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to interrupt the story here folks but I just had to.  
> Whilst watching the final episode of Robin Hood, I found myself puzzled by the fact that Tuck appears to have miraculously healed at some point. In the previous episode, he’d been hit in the shoulder by an arrow – you know, in the scene where all the men sit down in front of the convoy to stop it from leaving? Isabella fires the arrow hitting him most definitely in the shoulder and in doing so, disgusts everyone with her cold-heartedness… I didn’t imagine it did I?  
> Anyway, in the next episode (which also happens to be the final episode), his injury is never mentioned again… (!) On the contrary, he is very active in the episode, going on dangerous missions with the others such as the one in this chapter (to sabotage the trebuchets), abseiling down the castle walls, fighting against Vaisey’s men, helping the others to rescue Kate by pulling her up and over the castle walls etc...  
> …which seems unlikely considering his injury…  
> Now, I don’t know what exactly happened here with Tuck: forgetfulness on the part of the writers? Miraculous healing? Who knows?  
> A part of me, (the part that finds this sort of thing amusing) likes to roll with it - to think of Tuck as a badass mofo who just sucked it up and got on with it: arrow to the shoulder? No worries! Just pull it out and carry on! Abseiling? No problem! Trebuchets and Vaisey’s men? Bring it on!  
> So yeah… in my story I leave Tuck as he was in the show; conveniently healed enough to go do all the awesome stuff that he does in that final episode.  
> After all, who am I to question the genius that is Robin Hood?

XXVII

Sarah was fortunate enough to catch up with the men on the battlements before they departed for Vaisey’s camp. They were about to go and sabotage the trebuchets.

Robin smirked and glanced from her to Guy. “Can’t keep away it seems?”

She blushed; luckily, it was dark so nobody could see it. Guy looked up from securing ropes around himself to see her standing nearby. “Milady.” He greeted, his voice was low and seductive, his smile knowing.

“You’ve come to see us off then?” Much asked warmly, finding it sweet that she had come, even if it wasn’t exactly for him.

“Yes of course but I also wanted to have a word with Tuck if I may?”

Guy frowned.

The others seemed to suddenly collapse into some sort of strange half laughing half coughing fit. Tuck looked surprised but also amused. “Of course! What can I do for you mi ’lady?” He asked whilst trying to avoid the thunderous look directed at him by Guy.

She ushered him to one side before kneeling to place her knapsack upon the floor and she began removing various containers from it. Tuck knelt down and began studying the various items. The others, unable to quell their curiosity, did likewise.

“I was wondering if you might know what these are and if they could be of any use to us.” She smiled nervously.

“Where did you get them?” Tuck looked at her quizzically.

“I found them in one of the chambers.” Her expression was all innocence but Guy was studying her intently and could tell exactly where she had been.

“Sarah…” he prompted, his voice a warning.

“What? Your sister is in the dungeons Guy, what could possibly happen?” She tried a small smile but he remained unmoved.

“He’s right to be concerned Sarah, what if one of these is dangerous?” Robin interjected pointing to the containers below.

“That is rather what I was hoping for actually.” She replied smiling mischievously, “You could take them with you on your mission - spike their ale.” She gestured in the direction of Vaisey and his troops.

Robin’s eyes widened in surprise and he began to laugh. Much and John joined in and even Guy began to smile.

“You are a witch mi ’lady!” Robin exclaimed shaking his head as he laughed.

“Indeed… Fit for a devil I’d say…” she smiled wickedly and looked up from under her lashes at Guy, who instantly remembered their earlier conversation and swelled with pride. The smile that then spread over his face was one of those rare smiles of pure happiness.

Robin resisted the urge to slap both the lovebirds who were now staring, in his opinion, very sappily at each other. “So what’s the verdict Tuck? Can we use any of it?”

Tuck was grinning broadly, “Yes Robin, in fact we can use all of it.”

 

* * *

 

The men had no time to waste if their mission was to succeed which is why Sarah was baffled to observe Robin and Much engaged in a heated discussion. Much was to stay behind at the castle and keep an eye on things, something he was not at all pleased about.

The others took this brief interlude in proceedings to ready themselves for the night ahead. Tuck was talking quietly with Little John and both were fiddling with Sarah’s knapsack full of herbal goodies. There were a variety of potions and powders in there, some of them fatal in high doses, most merely capable of causing stomach cramps and the like – still, in conjunction they would certainly have a very unpleasant effect on any who unwittingly imbibed them.

Alas, because of the sheer number of men at Vaisey’s disposal, it was obvious that they would not be able to do significant damage to the force as a whole but luckily, it was in this instance that Guy proved himself once more an invaluable source of insider information. As former Master of Arms he could predict where contaminating the ale would do the most damage - that is, which men would be the most valuable to Vaisey and where they would (most probably) be situated in the camp.

It was, of course, a dangerous undertaking. Vaisey’s camp was heavily guarded, and in particular, the officer’s mess tent (home of the ale that Tuck was hoping to spike) much frequented. But if things worked out as they hoped, they would be taking out the trebuchets and a fair few of Vaisey’s best men in one fell swoop: not bad for a night’s work.

Sarah looked over to see that Much was still talking with Robin and took the opportunity to take Guy to one side.

“You will be careful?” She whispered smiling shyly at him.

“Of course…” He replied, a mischievous smile upon his lips. “I must, for I have a lady waiting for me.”

She enjoyed his mischief and decided to play along. “And you are not angry with her, for snooping in Isabella’s chambers?”

He took both her hands in his and squeezed gently. “No, she meant no harm I know.”

“She did, but to the other side…”

“Well then it is a good thing that I am on this side. I should not like to cross you my sweet, who knows what you would do to me?” He teased, placing a gentle kiss upon her lips.

“I would never…”

He silenced her with another kiss and whispered, “I know” against her lips. He pulled her into a tight embrace, his fingers sliding up behind her head and into her hair, they both sighed.

She placed a small kiss upon his neck and was about to place another but she heard a cough behind her from one of the men and knew that it was time for Guy to leave.

“I shall come back to you.” He whispered breathing her in.

“I know.”

 

* * *

 

She left him standing on the battlements looking out at Vaisey’s sprawling camp on the hill.

“Regrets?”

Guy snapped out of his thoughts to see Tuck standing at his side, staring curiously at him. “None.” He replied without hesitation.

“They have many men.”

“They do.”

“They have better trained men.”

“Indeed."

“They have byzantine fire.”

Guy nodded but said nothing.

“And still you have no regrets to be here with us?”

“None.” Again, no hesitation from Guy.

“You could’ve been there with Vaisey as his Lieutenant, had things gone differently...”

“I know.” Guy shivered at this thought; it was so abhorrent to him now.

He continued to look out at the scene before him as he spoke. “It might seem strange to you but despite the fact that he has the advantage in almost every possible way, I would still not trade places with any of those men on that hill.”

Tuck smiled broadly. Guy continued looking forwards; he felt uncomfortable, he was not used to speaking so freely, not even now that he had been with the outlaws for a good while.

“It is because of her?” Tuck was of course referring to Sarah.

“Yes… but also because… of me...” Guy was frowning but also smiling. His voice was softer than Tuck had ever heard it.

“I feel… free…”

He turned to look at Tuck directly and Tuck was amazed to find that the troubled man he had known thus far looked somehow different. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was and despite the fact that Guy was still the physically imposing man in black that he had always been, it was as if another man was now standing before him; a man whose darkness was no longer swallowing him limb for limb.

And once more Tuck could only be awed and astounded by the power of love, the power of redemption, the power of friendship and what all these wondrous things can to do to a man. He continued to stare at him and couldn’t help but wonder if the man now standing before him was the man he could have been all along had Vaisey never been a part of his life.

“…and if I should die this day then I shall die proud.” Guy raised his chin, his eyes flitting up to the heavens as if speaking to someone other than Tuck.

“You would not trade that for power and standing?” Tuck raised an eyebrow expectantly.

“Not anymore.”


	28. Chapter 28

XXVIII

“You, Allan-a-Dale, are an idiot!”

Cue loud peals of female laughter echoing throughout the cave.

“Aww come on Ushi, it’s not like I can help gettin’ shot by an arrow!”

“Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later wasn’t it? You and yer mates are always provokin’ the guards!”

Allan opened his mouth and the promptly closed it, she did have a point there.

He looked helplessly at Emma who was trying not to laugh. “Some help you are, bringin’ this lot ‘ere!” He pointed to the gaggle of women who were all merrily chuckling at his plight.

“You weren’t complainin’ drinking our ale!” Ursula replied passing him another. He took a large swig, for medicinal purposes of course.

“And you have to admit she has done a good job tending to your shoulder Allan.” Emma smiled cheekily at him before taking a sip of his ale.

Once again, Allan found himself speechless.

The ladies of the Trip Inn were always very well informed of the goings on in Nottingham and as a patron warned them of Prince John’s approaching troops, they had decided to shut up shop and make themselves scarce before trouble arrived. They had done the same thing the last time Nottingham had been under siege and had given Sarah and Emma the tip to leave with them then. That is how Emma had known where to find them this time and feeling out of her depth dealing with Allan’s wound, she had decided to fetch them.

A very good idea as it turned out, for Ursula was not only the resident mother hen of the Trip, she was also excellent in treating injuries, most of the bar brawl variety; black eyes, broken heads and the like but she’d seen her fair share of arrow wounds over the years as well. People were always doing stupid things whilst drunk and Ursula found that tending to wounds physical and emotional was often an important part of the service.

The mother hen had not hesitated to bring her chicks (as she liked to call the wenches of the Trip, who were now busy fussing over Allan) and also a few supplies with her, after all if they were going to be busy looking after an ailing man, they could all do with some ale and good cheer.

“She must think a lot of you Allan; she went to the trouble of fetching us which is more than most would do for you!” Ursula smiled mischievously at Emma before patting Allan on his bad shoulder causing him to wince and the ladies to laugh.

“Oww! Bloody Hell Ushi! You’re worse than Giz and the Sheriff!”

“Now Allan, that’s not very nice, I don’t think they’d have come all the way here to patch you up, not even if one as lovely as Emma had asked them.”

The chickies agreed loudly. Emma blushed.

“Aww look at him girls! Quite the grumpy patient and no mistake!” Betty teased whilst scuffing one hand through Alan’s unruly hair. Allan gave a scowl that would’ve made Guy proud. The ladies laughed heartily.

Betty, a fellow long-term serving wench of the Trip had, like Ursula, pretty much seen it all and couldn’t resist putting her oar in: "Men always make the worst patients don’t they gals? Christ you’d think his bloody arm had fallen off from the way he’s pullin’ his face!”  

“Come now, be brave little one!” Ursula teased pinching his cheek affectionately much to the delight of everybody except Allan.

“I’m tryin’ ladies! It’d help if you gimme some more of that ale…” He grimaced as he tried to get himself comfortable and thus began another round of fussing from the girls, they liked to tease but they could see he was in a fair bit of pain and it brought out the nurturing instinct in them.

Allan lapped up the attention, for all they teased him, he couldn’t complain. Since he’d woken up that morning he’d been tied up, chased by Prince John’s men and hit in the shoulder by an arrow. Now here he was, stuck in a cave being tended to by a bevy of Nottingham’s loveliest beauties... not a bad turn of events to be sure.

But that wasn’t the best of it...

He closed his eyes to remember what had happened just before Emma had left to fetch his carers…

“Allan! Are you listening to me?” Betty’s voice snapped him out of his pleasant reverie. His eyes shot open to see the woman in question offering him another drink of ale.

His face was hot and he looked embarrassed. _Not a good time to be thinking about kissing, Allan…_

“Good lord! What did you say to him Betty? He looks a right state!” Ursula brought her hand up to his forehead to check for fever.

“Nothing!” Betty replied looking directly at him.

“Bloody hell Allan! What’s gotten you so flustered all of a sudden?” Ursula enquired curiously.

Allan said nothing; he merely brought his eyes up to look at Emma standing nearby. She had the sweetest smile on her lips - a smile that told him that she knew exactly what had gotten him so flustered.

 

* * *

 

 “Hey! Come back here! I want a word with you!”

“Shit! Not Good.” Sarah cursed loudly before swiftly turning to run off in the other direction.

The guard who’d earlier been a victim of an involuntary slumber caused by Sarah (and the valerian root in his drink), was now awake… and angry… and had just spotted her.

Sarah was swift on her feet but unfortunately not swift enough, for it was not long before the guard had caught up with her.

He seized her forcefully by the arm. “Alright easy does it! No need to get rough…” She began.

“No need to get rough? You spiked my drink!” His face was bright red and he was shaking with anger. “What have you poisoned me with?” He yelled loudly.

Sarah schooled her features into a neutral expression, not wanting him to see that she was afraid. She looked at him directly and could tell from the way he winced at the sound of his own yelling that he was suffering from a nasty headache - the after effects of the good dose of valerian root he’d had in his system.

“Nothing serious just a little something to put you out for a bit…”

_Unfortunately not long enough…_

“Nothing serious! Jesus Christ I was out for hours and now I feel as if I’ve just gone 10 rounds with Vaisey in the dungeons!” He winced again bringing his hands up to his throbbing bonce.

“Why did you do it? If it was to free the prisoner then I must inform you that you’ve done a piss poor job of it – she’s still there.”

“Oh no, I had no desire to free her! I merely wished to make sure she stays put.”

He looked at her utterly baffled. She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. “I drugged her as well… I think you’ll agree that it’s for the best.”

She hadn’t thought that he could look any more baffled but then he surprised her by doing so.

“Oh come on now! She’s a pain in the arse at best and a dangerous manipulative bitch at worst, don’t tell me it’s not better this way!”

He let go of her arm as if burnt by it, his eyes widened in shock. For a moment, he said nothing, looking at her as if she was the devil incarnate. “She was in her cell. I was keeping watch. You didn’t have to do anything…”

“Yes I did! Who persuaded you to take a drink hmm? Who talked you into it?” Sarah interrupted. “And there’s no prizes for guessing what else she would’ve talked you into eh?”

The guard closed his eyes and sighed in defeat. Normally he would’ve protested but his head was giving him hell. On top of that, she was right: Isabella had been coming on to him before she had arrived with ‘refreshments’ and he couldn’t deny that the idea of ‘getting better acquainted’ with the former Sheriff had crossed his mind. As much as he didn’t like to admit that his genitals often made decisions for him, in this case they had very nearly done so.

“Come now, there’s no harm done…” she laid a hand upon his forearm to soothe him “…it’s your job to keep her in there and that’s exactly what you’ve done, I just wanted to help…” He looked extremely sceptical at this comment but she gave him a very becoming smile.

“Now, before you say another word I want you to hear me out…” She paused and he begrudgingly nodded his assent. “There’s a fair chance that our good lady Sheriff will be coming round in the next few hours and let’s face it, we have enough to be dealing with without her causing trouble, whether she’s in that cage or not.” She looked to see if he was following her and was pleased to see him nod in agreement.

“When she comes round she is not going to be pleasant and as you’re the only one here, well, it isn’t me she’s going to be salty with if you catch my drift…”

He looked worried. She repressed a smile of amusement. “Now then, what you have to ask yourself is this: Do you want to spend the next few hours listening to her screeching at you, which won’t do that headache you’re nursing any good, or are you going to help me make sure she remains out of mischief for the foreseeable future?”

It didn’t take him long to decide.

“You’ve got some more of that stuff?”

She smiled triumphantly.

“Of course.”

 


	29. Chapter 29

XXIX

It was ironic that just as Vaisey was feeling at his most invincible, many amongst his troops were feeling anything but.

It had never been easy serving Vaisey and Prince John but it seemed to many that the closer that the Prince got to the throne; the more difficult it became to serve either man. And now that King Richard was being held to ransom by Leopold of Austria, there should be nothing left to stand in their way but still it seemed that the men were more skittish than ever.

If there had been a reason that many had begun to doubt then it would be Robin Hood. The stories about the man and his deeds were the stuff of legend; enough to make even the most loyal soldier wonder.

But if there was a point when the rot had really set in then that would have to be when Sir Guy of Gisborne jumped ship. The man was the stuff of legend himself: fearsome, loyal, ruthless, a man who stopped at nothing. He had been at Vaisey’s side for most of his life – a feat that seemed unfathomable to anybody who’d ever had the pleasure of meeting the Sheriff, let alone those who served him lower down the ranks.

Then at some point, the Master of Arms had turned his back on it all. He’d even gone so far as to try and assassinate the Prince at his coronation. Even the dumbest soldier can see that all is not well when such a loyal servant turns on his master like that.

It was even rumoured that Gisborne had killed Vaisey, that it hadn’t been Robin Hood as Prince John had claimed but in fact the Sheriff’s lieutenant. Many believed it. Indeed, none amongst the men who knew the Sheriff could blame Gisborne if he’d had enough – he was just a man after all and every man has his limit.

No, the real shock came with the news that Gisborne had changed sides. _That_ cut deep. If some of the men had been worried before, then that was what really rocked the boat.

A few refused to believe it, a strategy that completely fell apart upon seeing Gisborne ride out with Robin Hood the previous afternoon. _That_ had made many of them very nervous indeed. As if it wasn’t bad enough that their leader was recently resurrected from the dead, (yet another shock to make one and all wonder what the hell was going on), now here was Gisborne riding out with the man who’d been his enemy for years as if they were old buddies.

These were the topics of conversation amongst the men before they retired for the night - not exactly motivating for them, not thoughts to settle the nerves before a battle…

 

…and then the trebuchets combusted...

This alone would’ve had many running for the hills were it not for the fact that Vaisey would have them flogged for desertion but then came the worst of all…

 

_… **the sickness**..._

 

As Vaisey stood at the castle gates smugly informing Robin Hood that King Richard and the cavalry weren’t coming, many of his very own cavalry were not behind him as they should have been but in fact on their knees, retching up the contents of their stomachs, soiling their breeches, thinking they were dying or wishing they were dead.

As their fellow comrades looked on in horror, one could not help but wonder if the whole mission was cursed. This must be punishment surely - punishment for taking the devil’s coin, for serving a dead man, for having ignored the signs that all was not well.

It was that moment, in the face of what could only be God’s wrath that many began to flee, terrified that the sickness might take hold of them also.

Vaisey might have felt invincible that morning, little did he know that whilst he was busy triumphantly announcing King Richard’s fate to the outlaws that behind him his men were leaving in droves.

God was not on their side it seemed, and who was the simple soldier to go against God’s will?

 

* * *

 

"Robin! The Portcullis is breached! We can't hold them!"

Not long after Kate uttered these words a loud bang stopped everybody in their tracks.

Tuck threw himself to the floor, which looked a bit silly, but considering all the explosive material in the room was actually prudent. Fortunately, it wasn’t any of his stuff that had gone up.

Everybody looked around the great hall, wondering what had just occurred. Robin was the first to speak: “What was that?”  
Archer walked to the ‘secret’ door that led to the tunnel and slowly opened it, peeking inside for a few seconds. “I think it came from the tunnel.”

“Vaisey?” Guy wondered aloud.

"It must be. It can’t be Isabella can it?" Robin replied. Sarah repressed a smile and took pains to avoid eye contact with Guy.

_Shhh Sarah, easy does it, explaining what you did to his sister isn’t a discussion you want to be having right now…_

“We need to get down there.” Archer looked to Guy, snapping him out of his thoughts and he drew his sword before taking the few steps to the door.

"I’ll go.” His voice was as low as a growl.

“Does it always have to be you?” Sarah asked quietly. He froze mid-step. He turned to look at her and the expression on his face told her all she needed to know.

“I don’t suppose I could come with you?” She looked so pitiful as she asked this that Guy had to restrain himself from going to her and taking her into his arms. The others watched the scene in silence but Much couldn’t resist a little “Aww Sarah…”

She looked to the ground, not wanting to receive his answer, knowing full well what he would say and also not wanting him to see how upset she was. Her lips curled into a resigned grimace and then after a small shake of her head she reached up into her sleeve and retrieved Guy's dagger and sheath. She held it out to him, raising her eyes to his,

"Go on, take it..." She tried to smile but her eyes were full of sadness and it broke his heart to see her like this.

"No funny business this time, I promise." She was of course referring to the first time she had held a dagger to him, well to his belly actually, back then her intentions had not been so good.

He passed Archer his sword, took the few steps towards her and took her into his arms. He held her tightly and for a few moments, it was as if it was just they two… that is until the silence was broken by a voice nearby:

"Aww..." that was most definitely Much, softy that he is.

"Shut up Much!" That was most definitely Robin and despite his words, his tone was affectionately teasing.

Sarah began to laugh. Her body shook with her giggles; this got Guy going as well, which got everybody else going. Perhaps it was a sort of release for pent up tension, who knows, but for a few seconds, everybody enjoyed one of the lighter moments of what was to become a fateful day.

Guy took the dagger from Sarah, whispered his thanks, kissed her on the top of her head and then turned back to Archer.

They could wait no longer.

 

* * *

 

Guy felt hyper-alert as he entered the tunnel, fear made his skin prickle but he was no coward; no, he would see it through to the end this time. 

It was not long before he heard the familiar voice of his former master:

"You know Gisborne, you loved me once..."

 

 

 


	30. Chapter 30

XXX

Vaisey was not alone in the tunnel.

Guy was not surprised.

He was however, unimpressed by Blamire’s presence. Yes, he was outnumbered for the moment but he had sent Archer back to Robin and knew that it would not be long before the outlaw came to join them, unable to resist the lure of the fight.

He also knew that Vaisey would have to get a few jibes in first as he always did, there could never just be a fight, one could never just get down to business with him but he figured that this time it would work in his favour, giving Robin the time to come and even out the score.

“You had nothing; I was all you had…” Vaisey’s voice was chilling but Guy looked on with a neutral expression. “I was not just your lord; I was your family…” he continued, circling as if closing in on prey, “But you have a sister now…” Vaisey chuckled snidely, “Where has she got to? I thought she of all people would like to watch me finish you off.”

“I don’t doubt that she would but she is... detained...” Gisborne’s voice was clear and confident. He stood straight but was not trying to unsettle anybody with his height as he usually did in situations where he felt threatened. Vaisey noticed this; it was new… and strange.

“Oh dear, no reconciliation Gisborne? Perhaps instead of locking her up, you should’ve got Robin Hood to persuade her to join you in your cause, he seemed to get on well with her…”

To Vaisey’s surprise, Guy didn’t even bat an eyelid. “Is that it?" he shrugged indifferently, "is that the best you can do?”

“Oh I don’t know Gisborne; I just assumed that the fact that your sister preferred that runt from the forest over you, much like that leper you used to moon over all the time did, would be painful enough.” Vaisey smirked triumphantly but was secretly somewhat dismayed that he had not yet managed to get a rise out of the younger man: Indeed Gisborne remained infuriatingly impassive. Still maybe if he kept going…

“But then let’s face it Gisborne, you’ve messed it up with everybody you ever cared about haven’t you? Sold your sister, slaughtered the love of your life, betrayed me…” Vaisey watched his former lieutenant closely but Guy remained unimpressed. Then to the older man’s astonishment he not only did not take the bait, he began to smile - not smirk as was his custom, no, this was in fact a real smile, one that belied an indulgent amusement.

_Not everybody Vaisey, not everybody..._

“You’re losing your touch. Come on, you can do better than this…” Guy rolled his shoulders and tightened his grip on his sword – a gesture more akin to a certain outlaw than to the man who had been most of his life in Vaisey’s service.

He didn’t let it show but the fact that he didn’t have a ready retort to Guy’s remark belied his surprise that this conversation was not going as he’d expected. Indeed, nothing about Guy was as he’d expected, granted he’d not seen much of him but it had been enough: he seemed somehow… calm… clear headed… self-assured…

Usually there was a latent anger lurking just beneath the surface and it had always been something Vaisey could work with to intimidate him or to get him to do his bidding. Sure, Guy had always schooled his features in such a way as to not let his feelings show and yet Vaisey had always a sixth sense when it came to how others were feeling, no matter how much they tried to hide their emotions.

But there was no anger to work with now, no hatred, no bitterness, no pain, and it dismayed and infuriated Vaisey. He had worked hard on Gisborne; it had taken a long time to get him how he wanted him and then he’d had to watch it all unravel as the leper ruined him…

… and now he didn’t even have the pleasure of rattling the man, of getting to him as he had always so enjoyed…

As he continued to circle him, he schemed, wanting desperately to somehow verbally get one over him but Guy merely eyed him patiently, waiting for him to make the next move.

“You were so promising you know; you could’ve had it all…” Vaisey smiled sadly but didn’t fool Guy for a second with his faux pity, he could sense the older man was becoming increasingly angry with his indifference and for once it was he that was pleased to rile his former lord and master.

“…we were so close to our goal… I would’ve shared it all with you…” Vaisey continued and Guy couldn’t help but smirk at this comment knowing full well that Vaisey would happily have murdered him; their previous tussle to the death upon the battlements merely confirmed it. He was coming closer now and Guy could tell from the tone of his voice that his attack was imminent.

“…but then you tried to kill me…”

Guy steeled himself knowing…

“I MADE YOU!” Vaisey screamed and as he lunged for him, Guy’s first move was to give Vaisey a very satisfying punch in the face.

“I won’t make the same mistake twice!”

As they clashed swords, Guy could tell straight away that Vaisey was clearly at a disadvantage, this was not all that surprising for a stab in the chest and a lengthy convalescence will do that to a man he figured, but he still had to be careful; Vaisey was intelligent and sneaky. On top of that, there was also the problem of Blamire, who was busy stalking on the side-lines waiting for an opportunity to strike.

_Come on Locksley, taking your time aren’t you?_

As if in an act of mindreading, the man appeared and Guy sighed with relief as he saw him go straight for Blamire. His relief was only momentary however, for some of Vaisey’s guards had now arrived and were also keen to get in on the action.

_Up against the odds – nothing new there then._

It was at that moment that he thought of Archer, he had already seen the man in action and knew that he would be a great help to them but it was not as if he could just go and get him.

Little did Guy know, that at that very same moment, the woman who loved him was thinking of him and telling Archer that very same thing.

 

* * *

 

Tuck was being an absolute legend this day. 

Before the sun was up, he had made sure that Isabella's assorted herbal nasties had gotten into the ale of some of Vaisey's finest men. This had not only made a good number of those men ill, it had also put the fear of god into a great many more causing them to flee

Later, he managed to produce enough byzantine fire to kill a castle out of some... err... nut oil...

And as Guy, Robin and last but not least, Archer, moved on to the tunnel to try and take down Vaisey, it was Tuck who was left to hold off Vaisey's men at the doors to the main hall.

He was of course, not alone in this undertaking for he had Much, who was fighting like a legend himself and John, who was always as passionate and strong a fighter as anyone could wish for and Kate, who had such spirit and was, for a village girl, no slouch when it came to defending herself and what she believed in. Then there was Sarah, who, although was not much in the way of fighting, was quick, clever and resourceful with what her surroundings gave her. Luckily, her surroundings gave her a hot flammable substance, which she was not hesitant to use on any attacking guards.

Then there were those who couldn’t be there with them. They might not have been able to join them in the fight but were no less important.

People like Allan and Emma for example, sorely missed by the fighters of this final battle for Nottingham and never far from their thoughts.

And then finally, there were all those who had died for their struggles, the most important of which being Marian - the brave, adventurous, strong-willed Lady of Knighton was very much in everybody’s thoughts and in nobody’s more so, than the two men who had loved her.

Robin couldn’t help but wonder if she was looking down upon them from heaven. Would she rejoice that he and Guy had come together to defeat Vaisey? Would it make her proud to see that they had buried their enmity to fight side by side for the greater good? For England?

Guy thought about this too and it was his most fervent wish to finally bring this chapter to a close, to end Vaisey, just as Marian had wanted him to.

As he and Vaisey had last fought, he'd said to his master; “You're the reason Marian is dead! You poison everyone!” Later, he had wondered at those words he’d screamed in a moment of rage, for surely it was he alone who was responsible for her death and for the longest time he thought he'd said it because it was easier for him to give the Vaisey the blame for the terrible thing that he had done.

But then at some point it occurred to him that there was some truth in what he had said.

Marian had once told him that he was not a killer. She had been wrong about that but it was under Vaisey’s influence that he had truly become one. The meeting with Malcolm of Locksley had reminded him of the boy he had been. The meeting with Sarah had reminded him how he had been at his worst under Vaisey. The outlaws’ faith in him now reminded him of how far he had come since then.

He had killed Marian, there was no doubt about that and it was something he would carry with him for the rest of his days...

...but Vaisey was responsible as well.

He recalled a dream he’d had not long after he’d moved to the forest. It was of Marian, he’d had many such dreams and they were pretty much always the same: he would reach out to touch her but she would always back away from him. However, this one time in the forest, the dream was different: the same thing happened in it but it was different because this time _he_ was different - a young boy not yet a man. He remembered his youthful features hidden behind a long dark fringe, his eyes so wide and full of yearning…

As he woke, he remembered he’d felt the urge to sob, to cry until he could cry no more but this time it was not for the woman he had killed and thus could never have, no, this time it was for the boy he’d killed and thus could never again be.

When the tears finally came, it was for the life that boy could’ve had, had he never met Vaisey, perhaps with someone as wonderful as Marian.

“I made you!” Vaisey had screamed at him before his initial attack in this, their final fight and he had been right. But if it was one thing that had become ever clearer to him since those dark days of his service to that man, it was that he could also be remade.

He recalled a moment at the river with Sarah as he had cleaned her chafed ankle (sore from being tied up) and she had winced in pain but then she had laughed and said to him:

“I’m sorry Guy; I just can’t get over how different you are now.”

He had scowled of course, but what she could not know is that her laugh and her words had been like heaven.

Then later as he had coaxed her into his bed, he had asked her if she was still afraid of him as she had been at Locksley and she had said no and had kissed him full on the lips. He had then breathlessly told her that her kisses were more than a man like him could ever deserve but she had merely smiled and entwined her fingers through his before saying:

“Let’s let me be the judge of that shall we?”

As he then surrendered to her sweet kisses he’d thought to himself,

‘Perhaps there’s hope for me after all.’

If Marian, Meg and Sarah could believe it, then perhaps it was time for him to believe it too.


	31. Chapter 31

XXXI

"How appropriate, a battle so huge should come down to the important few."

Upon seeing Archer arrive, Guy had sighed in relief, for although Vaisey was not fighting at his best and Robin was there to help, Blamire was an excellent swordsman and with the sheer number of guards getting involved now, it was beginning to become a strain.

As Vaisey began to pontificate again, Archer had shot his brother a questioning look as if to ask 'Is he always this talkative?' Guy answered his question with a look of long suffering weariness followed by a playful smirk.

"A new one. I don't know you do I?" Vaisey pointed his sword at the new arrival.

"I was just minding my own business in York prison when these chaps turned up telling me I'm their brother." Archer replied with a grin.

"Well Archer, you've got to admit it's better here than in prison." Robin cheekily replied.

"I don't know, I didn't have this lot pointing their swords at me there." Archer laughed.

"Look, is this sorry excuse for a family reunion going to go on long or do I have to remind you that we are here to fight to the death?" Vaisey interrupted impatiently.

"Actually you're the one who's so fond of talking." Guy quipped, tossing his sword from one hand to the other. Archer laughed again. Vaisey gave him a dirty look.

"Alright enough!" Vaisey screeched.

Blamire thought he'd never see the day.

"Together..." Robin looked to Guy and then Archer.

"Brothers in arms!" Archer announced resolutely.

Then it was all a whirl of clashing swords.

Blamire went straight for Guy, perhaps sensing that he was weaker because he had been fighting longer but if Guy was at all tired, he didn't let it show, giving as good as he got.

Archer dispatched guards in quick succession and used his momentum to knock Blamire off balance, who unfortunately barely budged and quickly rallied before doing the same to him but knocking him clean to the floor, where his sword skittered out of his hand. He quickly righted himself and upon hearing Guy call his name, was astonished to see Guy throw his sword to him just in time to block Blamire's attack.

Vaisey went straight for Robin and if he had thought that he would have it easier with him because he was more proficient with a bow and arrow then he was sorely mistaken for it did not take long for Robin to knock him to the ground.

"For all the lives you've wrecked and for all people you've killed!" Robin yelled venomously before moving in for the death blow...

... seconds later he was staggering backwards in surprise wondering why Guy had pushed him out of the way...

... as he felt the sting of the gash upon his neck and then the warm rush of blood flowing to the wound, he knew exactly why Guy had done it: Blamire had nearly killed him.

He had little time to think of this before he was confronted with the horrifying sight of Vaisey rising up from the ground and stabbing Guy with his sword...

"Gisborne!" He screamed as he watched the knight sink to the floor. Archer rushed to his brother to help him as he desperately tried to right himself. Vaisey and Blamire stood nearby both sickly fascinated by the wounded man.

"This ends here!" Robin yelled agitatedly, pointing his sword from Vaisey to Blamire.

"How right you are Robin Hood!" Vaisey replied triumphantly looking down at Gisborne who was still grappling with Archer, trying to get to his feet. He then turned his attention to Robin, hissing nastily and gesturing to his wound.

"It's a scratch! It's nothing!" Robin spat bringing his hand up to the injury.

Guy could see that Vaisey had written him off and was about to move in to attack Robin. He decided to use this window of opportunity, whilst Vaisey's attention was elsewhere, to mount his final attack. For a brief moment he felt Archer hold him back but then as a meaningful look passed between them, his new found brother relented and let him go…

He was swift for an injured man and caught Vaisey completely unawares, but he stumbled on the way and so the blade sliced down the length of the Vaisey’s thigh instead of sinking hard into his side as Guy had intended. Guy panicked for he knew that this was not a death blow, but quickly regained his composure to ram the blade hard as he could through Vaisey's foot.

_Well old man, if I am not going to kill you, I might as well do as much damage as I can before I go..._

Vaisey squealed like a stuck pig, jumping up and down on one leg like a madman all the while. He clutched his foot and screamed even louder, looking in abject horror at the dagger still lodged in his foot.

Blamire cared little for his master and so felt no compulsion to go to him but did decide to have another go at Archer whilst the young man was looking elsewhere. Archer was caught completely off balance as Blamire's blade swung towards him and it was only his lightening quick reactions that saved him from the blow.

Robin saw all of this and felt that if Blamire was going to play dirty then he could have a taste of his own medicine and so went to attack him from behind.

But he had forgotten how sneaky Vaisey was and it was in that moment that Vaisey pulled the dagger out of his foot screaming louder than ever, before turning to finish what he had started with his former Master of Arms...

 

"Noooooo!"

 

It happened in a second but that second felt like an eternity...

... Sarah ran as fast as she could, dodging all manner of fights, clashing of swords and skirmishes to launch herself upon Guy's injured form lay prostate on the floor, shielding his long, taut body with her small, delicate one, curling them both up into a ball.

Vaisey froze in shock.

For a moment, he was in a daze but before he fully recovered his senses, he stupidly put his weight down upon his injured foot. The pain shot through his whole body causing him to yelp and his whole squealing like a pig and hopping about like a madman routine began again. He tried to clutch his foot, which was bleeding profusely now and in doing so the dagger fell from his grip to the floor with a loud clatter. Archer wasted no time in sliding it away from where Vaisey could get to it and then keeping his heel on it.

Sarah held her head down all the while, terrified of the blow that was about to come, her breathing fast and shallow, her body trembling. Guy groaned beneath her, his injury giving him hell but his first initial panic upon receiving the wound was over and now he felt strangely calm. He kept his head down beneath his lady's shoulder.

Everybody stared at Vaisey now, awaiting his next move. He leant heavily against the wall, trying to catch his breath; the fight and all that hopping about had worn him out. After a few seconds, he returned his glance to the couple.

"Who the devil are you?" He spat looking murderously at Sarah.

She slowly lifted her head up and her eyes to his. She was about to answer his question but found herself interrupted:

"That, Lord Vaisey, is Sir Guy's wife."

Tuck emerged from the shadows grinning widely to a chorus of amazed gasps. All in the room turned their eyes to him and then to the couple curled up on the floor in the middle of the room.

For a moment, it was so silent you could've heard a pin drop and then it was collective confusion, (even amongst the outlaws) and everybody spoke at once, the loudest of which was Vaisey.

"You are married Gisborne?"

Guy raised his head up and shot a triumphant smile at his former master, nodding happily before bringing his eyes to his lady. He could sense that everybody was looking at him and it almost made him want to blush, except that he was not the blushing type.

"Yes he is..." Tuck explained happily, walking closer to the pair, "...or should I say they are..." he smiled at Sarah as he said this, "I married them this very morning."

Robin and Archer were as shocked as any in the room to learn of this but their faces lit up with happy smiles.

"Aren't you going to congratulate them Lord Vaisey?" Tuck was positively rejoicing in this opportunity to needle the former Sheriff.

"Enough of this!" Vaisey spat venomously and pointed his sword at the newlyweds.

"Not so hasty my lord, before you do that, you may wish to congratulate them on something else as well..." Tuck's tone was strangely menacing now and the entire room was fascinated by him.

Vaisey was puzzled and irate. "What are you blathering on about?"

"Well you see they have another happy event to look forward to..."

"If this is news that they expect a child then I must inform you that I don't care and what's more they shall not survive long enough to bring it into the world." Vaisey gritted his teeth as he said this.

"Oh no, that's not it Lord Vaisey..." Tuck began, his voice was once again menacing, his features twisted in sinister glee, "...the happy event is your imminent demise..."


	32. Chapter 32

XXXII

Vaisey was dumbstruck. He had never looked more confused or surprised.

He was not alone; practically everyone in the room was in a similar state. All looked to Tuck for answers.

"Perhaps you would like me to explain..." he began; his eyes briefly scanned the room to see if all were with him, which of course they were.

"You see, I gladly gave the happy couple here my blessing because not only are they are an excellent match but also because they are an excellent team. Do you know, that together, they have managed to do something that nobody else has managed before...?" Tuck paused to enjoy the deliciousness of what he was about to say,

"…They have managed to kill you."

He looked intensely at Vaisey, who began to laugh.

“No they haven’t! I’m still here! I think I would’ve noticed it if they had killed me you nitwit.” He smiled pompously at the Friar stood opposite him.

Tuck said nothing at first. He calmly walked over to Archer and picked up Guy's dagger from under Archer’s heel and then pulled out of his pocket a small bottle. Guy recognised it instantly. It was the poison he had given Isabella.

"Sarah, or Lady Gisborne should I say, came to me this morning asking me what this is..." he held up the vial of poison for all to see, "I said take care my lady for that is a most potent poison, a few drops of that in the bloodstream would kill any man."

"So? What has this got to do with me?" Vaisey replied unconcerned, shrugging his shoulders.

"So… the lady was clever enough to lace her husband’s dagger with it..." he held up Guys dagger for all to see and then gestured to Vaisey's wounded thigh and foot, an enormous grin spreading over his face.

Everybody in the room collectively gasped at the realisation that the poison was now in Vaisey’s bloodstream. Everybody that is except Tuck and Sarah.

Vaisey’s mouth dropped open and his whole body went rigid with shock. He could do nothing other than stand there, frozen in a horrified grimace.

Guy began to smile and pulled his wife’s lips to his own for a congratulatory kiss.

Robin and Archer burst into laughter, hardly believing what had happened.

Blamire breathed out long and hard before bringing his hand to his forehead and closing his eyes. He knew they were done for.

Vaisey snarled at Guy and Sarah before jabbing his finger at Tuck. “You say that I am poisoned and yet here I stand before you, very much alive…”

“Not for much longer…” Guy replied putting his arm, on his good side, around Sarah and slowly pushing himself up to stand. He was panting hard and gritting his teeth together but he was determined to do it. Sarah tried to bear as much of his weight as she could but it was difficult to support him; so tall and heavy as he was, but soon he was on his feet and could bear his weight alone. Sarah went to move away but his arm curled further around her pulling her closer to him and he placed a gentle kiss upon the top of her head in thanks before returning his eyes to Vaisey. He threw his head back slightly and jutted his chin out in defiance.

“For the poison to work straight away you need the whole bottle…” He spoke slowly; his voice was menacing, “a few drops does the job just as well but it takes longer, making the death slower and more painful. I'd say you'll be dead by sundown.” His lips curled into a satisfied smirk as he imparted this information, his eyes never leaving Vaisey’s.

“Well then Gisborne, I'll see you in hell!” He snarled pointing his sword at his former lieutenant.

“That could well be but I think not yet.” Guy gritted out, pulling his clothes back to expose his chest. Sarah went to stop him, puzzled at what he was doing but then as she realised why, she began to help him.

It was Robin’s turn to speak, “You! You… You bloody idiot!” His words were fierce but they were spoken in affection and he laughed loudly as he saw the glint of the armour. He strode over to Guy, with eyes like saucers and then reached out to knock upon the metal plate which was snuggly fitted against Guys chest. “You could’ve told me you were wearing this! You had me worried there for a minute!” He shook his head incredulously whilst his relief presented itself in a small laughing fit.

“You Locksley? Worried about me?” The two men shared a teasing smile before Guy turned once more to his former Master.

“I knew this would come in handy at some point.” He smiled, glancing down at the special armour that he and Vaisey had worked on what seemed like a lifetime ago. It had been a long time since he had last worn it because for a long time it had not mattered to him if he lived or died but at some point he'd begun to feel differently.

Vaisey went so red that Guy thought his head might explode. It was very very sweet.

Tuck came over to get a look at the wound, he could see straight away that the armour had done an excellent job; deflecting Vaisey’s blade away from the chest and into the shoulder where a nasty gash was bleeding heavily. Luckily, Guy’s tight fitting leathers had helped to staunch the blood flow to a certain degree but the wound would have to be bound at the first opportunity.

It seemed that Guy would live to fight another day.

If they got out of this that is.

Meanwhile, Robin approached Vaisey who was on the brink of a fit of rage. Robin’s smug demeanour pushed him over the edge.

“You will all pay for this!” He screamed, “Every last one of you!”

“Come now Vaisey, none of that: You are beaten. It is over.” Robin told him with utmost satisfaction. “The question is would you prefer to die now or later?”

Vaisey didn’t understand so Robin continued, "you see, we are not animals, we can show mercy and give you the rest of the poison…”

Sarah felt Guy move forward as if to intervene, not wanting to show Vaisey the slightest mercy but she stilled him with a hand upon his forearm. He stopped to look at her and she silently mouthed the word “wait”.

“We could do this for you; you could die without pain and suffering… but only if you tell your men to stand down.” Robin looked curiously at Vaisey and for a moment, the older man deliberated...

…but then his features twisted into a hateful sneer and he hissed out his answer, his sour breath blowing hard into Robin’s face: “Never.”

Robin backed away sighing in disappointment.

“My Lord! It is over! What about our men?” Blamire protested and everybody jumped for it was the first anybody had heard from him since he and Vaisey had arrived.

“We fight to the death Blamire! That was the mission: Take the castle or die trying!” Vaisey shouted vengefully.

“Oh Vaisey, you won’t even spare what’s left of your troops? I had always thought you low but…” Robin was shaking his head. Blamire was aghast, he turned away so as not to let the others see his disappointment and anger. Guy felt sad, he had not wanted mercy for Vaisey but he did not want a continuation of the bloodshed either.

“Go then!” Robin spat angrily, “Go back to what’s left of your troops and do your worst with what time you have left, you pathetic troll!”

“You think my death will be the end of this Hood? My men will stop at nothing!”

“Your men! Ha! Your men didn’t even start! Most of them were too sick to fight!” This was an exaggeration but Robin couldn’t resist getting that dig in.

The reaction from Blamire said it all. He inhaled sharply in surprise, “You… you poisoned them as well!” His eyes were wide in horror and realisation.

“Yes we did... well, some of them…” Tuck admitted, “…and hopefully put the fear of God in the rest of them.”

Vaisey was so angry he was shaking.

Robin was unimpressed. “So you see my lord, what we are capable of. We will also stop at nothing. Many of your men are this very moment getting a taste of the punishment you have been meting out to us: we have our very own Byzantine Fire!” He announced triumphantly.

This was too much for Blamire. “The men!” He cried out and made to leave.

“Blamire! You will not call them off!” Vaisey yelled stopping Blamire in his tracks “Or so help me God I’ll slit your throat if it’s the last thing I do!”

Blamire turned and looked at Vaisey. The old man looked truly pathetic; he was holding himself up on one leg, the other leg was bleeding heavily and he couldn’t put his damaged foot down which was sliding helplessly and limply in a pool of blood that had formed beneath it. He was leaning heavily against the wall and although he tried to keep his sword up, it was obvious that he was now weakened and thus struggling to do so.

“Sir, you are most welcome to try.” He shot Vaisey a last baleful look and then rushed off in the direction of the tunnel entrance to send back the men from that direction.

He met with no resistance.

Vaisey yelled curses but was looking worse and worse by the minute now; the poison was beginning to take effect.

Robin walked towards him and in a swift movement took his sword from him. Vaisey resisted of course but was not in any condition to do much. Robin looked at him with pity. He was not sorry that Vaisey was to die – after all he deserved it, but Robin could not help but feel pity in the face of suffering and it shocked him to see a man who had once been so powerful now so weak.

“It’s over.” He said softly, “Don’t worry, we shall not strike you down without your sword. We shall fight you no more for you are no longer worth fighting.”

To his surprise, Vaisey nodded and said nothing. He was fading.

“You may return to your men if you wish, they are hopefully standing down as we speak. If you persuade them to do otherwise then I must inform you that we shall take no prisoners; we shall fight to the bitter end. The people of Nottingham deserve no less.”

Again, Vaisey nodded. He looked as if he was about to keel over; his whole body seemed to be shaking now with the exertion of keeping upon his feet. Robin couldn’t stand it anymore and finding himself with nothing more to say to the man who had been his enemy for so many years, he merely shook his head and walked away. The others took this as their cue to follow.

All that is, except Guy of Gisborne.

Sarah sensed he wished to be alone with the man he had served most of his life, and so gave him a small smile and took her leave.

Guy said nothing and his gaze gave away nothing. For the first time in his life, Vaisey could not look at his boy. He sank ungracefully to his knees; the exertion had become too great. Guy knew that he would never make it back to his men; indeed, he would never make it out of the tunnel, he was too far gone now – the pain was etched on his face.

Guy had thought long and hard about what he would say were he ever to triumph over his master but in the event he found that there were no words. He felt nothing… just numb… and empty.

He took one last look at him and then turned to leave.

Then he heard his name. Vaisey’s voice was quiet and so altered it made Guy jolt. He turned to find the former Sheriff smiling at him. The poisoned man reached into his mouth and pulled out his tooth, something Guy had seen him do a million times.

“You can have it if you want… I know you took the last one… I couldn’t find it…”

For some reason this made Guy smile too. It was one of the strangest exchanges he’d ever had with the man and God knows there had been many over the years.

He shook his head. “No, it’s alright, you keep it.”

Vaisey smiled brightly at him as if Guy had just done him some enormous favour or something. “Thank you.” He whispered.

Guy just about managed a wan smile in reply before he turned his back and walked away.


	33. Chapter 33

XXXIII

In the great hall, the fight for Nottingham was still in full flow.

The outlaws returning from the tunnel were astonished to find that there was no let-up in the assault from Prince John’s men. What they didn’t know, is that despite Blamire’s orders to fall back there was still a force loyal to Vaisey who had decided to keep on fighting. Vaisey was their commanding officer and he had told them to fight until the castle was theirs. They would only stop on his orders and would obey no other. Blamire had told them that their leader was dead but they’d refused to believe him; they had seen no evidence of that and so would press on as planned.

Much, Little John, Kate and a ragtag band of men from Nottingham and Locksley were still doing an admirable job of holding the attacking forces at bay but Robin decided it was time to get everybody into the cellars.

“Robin are you mad? We can’t back down!”

Robin smiled upon hearing Kate say this; his lady was a fighter through and through.

“We need to get these people out of here and this is the only way.” He replied.

“But I thought we wanted to hold the castle…” She was confused at this change of plan.

“We did but we were holding it for King Richard and as you know, he isn’t coming.”

Kate nodded but then frowned. “But we can’t let Vaisey take it, we just can’t!”

“Vaisey is dead. He won’t be taking anything.”

Kate smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. “Then why are they still fighting?” She gestured to the door, which was still taking a hammering.

“I don’t know…” He replied with a frown, “But there is one thing I do know, it’s that even if we manage to defeat those troops it won’t be long before Prince John sends more, especially now that Vaisey is dead, do you follow me?”

“So we just wait in the cellars to die?” Kate was outraged.

“No. We wait in the cellars until the troops have gone through and then we get out of here.”

There was a moment of silence as both digested this information. It was a plan with holes in it for sure but it was the best Robin could come up with under the circumstances.

“What can I do?” Kate asked. She had also realised that the plan was shaky but since she wasn’t able to suggest a better one she knew that the time for discussion was over.

He smiled at her affectionately, “Help me get everyone down into the cellar and pray that the troops don’t decide to come looking for us there.”

 

* * *

 

“I never liked cellars!” Much was not a happy bunny.

“Shut up Much, do you want us to get caught?” Robin replied impatiently. Much looked put out and was about to complain but then thought the better of it. Robin’s jibes were certainly preferable to getting caught.

“This is risky Robin, are you sure this is going to work?” Little John whispered.

Robin hesitated in answering which in a way was an answer in itself. He opened his mouth to speak and still had no idea of what he was going to say.

Luckily Tuck knew just what to say, legend that he is. “This day has been full of wonders John; on this day I think anything is possible.”

All pondered this in silence. Some were smiling.

“Yeah, I mean who would’ve thought that Gisborne would ever marry?” Robin quipped. This threw everybody into fits of muffled laughter.

Gisborne scowled. He was sitting nearby having his wound tended to by his wife. He repressed it but Sarah could tell from the small tremor that passed through his body and the small upward curl of his lips that he’d found it funny as well.

“Shhh!” This came from a small boy nearby, clearly a sensible lad.

The men whispered their apologies.

After a minute or so of silence Robin whispered, “Do you know what? Prince John can have this miserable bloody place, I’m sick of the sight of it.” All nodded in agreement, even Guy.

“If we get out of this and I sincerely hope we shall, the first thing I am going to do is shoot a flaming arrow and blast this castle to the heavens…” he smiled at Much as he said this, they had often joked about blowing the place up. Much grinned and nodded at his dearest friend, they had always been on the same wavelength.

“Let’s see if his Highness will think his prize worth having when he comes to claim a pile of rubble.”

 

* * *

 

“Come on slowpoke!”

Emma enjoyed nothing more than teasing Allan. Fortunately for her, Allan enjoyed nothing more than being teased by Emma, and returning the favour of course.

However, today he was not on top form; he was nursing a monstrous hangover.

“Aww come on, I’m ailing!” he protested.

“That’s your shoulder, there’s nothing wrong with your legs.” Sarah laughed brightly entwining his fingers with hers and pulling him along.

“I wasn’t talkin’ about my shoulder; I was talkin’ about my head!”

“Well that’ll teach you to think you can keep up with the ladies of the Trip!”

“Don’t I know it!” Allan said closing his eyes and bringing his free hand up to rub at his throbbing temples.

The ladies of the Trip had enjoyed an excellent night of merriment at the cave, (soundly beating Allan when it came to supping ale) and had, at what Allan thought was a ridiculously early hour, took their leave of the couple to return to their families. Each left Allan with a kiss upon his cheek and a ruffle of his hair and each had received a (fake) scowl from the outlaw. Finally, Ursula was the last to leave, teasing till the last and the invalid was happy to receive her promise to visit in a few days or so, to see how he was getting on.

In the meantime, he was to enjoy being looked after by Emma.

And enjoy it he did.

He made sure to be an excellent patient for he was hoping for a very particular kind of attention from his nurse… Luckily, she was so fond of him as to not be neglectful when it came to bestowing her kisses upon him.

“Remind me, what are we doing here again?” He asked somewhat grumpily.

Emma chuckled, “We are making sure you get some fresh air, which is good for hangovers.”

“You coulda fooled me…” He muttered.

“Are you arguing with your nurse?” She was being playfully stern with him.

He grinned wickedly, “No ma’am.” He leaned in for a kiss…

…She dodged it. “Oh no, you’ve not earned one yet!” She teased pulling him up the hill.

He groaned but let her pull him, in the hope that if he climbed it, she’d be more generous.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Allan, they reached the top. He didn’t waste any time in claiming his prize and as he leant in to kiss her, he could see that this time he was not going to be rebuffed…

 

It was at that moment a deafening explosion made both of them jump out of their skins.

It was so loud that it could be heard all over the county.

 

The couple broke apart from each other instantly.

Their first thoughts were of their friends at the castle and Emma suddenly felt terrified for her sister.

They moved as if hypnotized to a point on the hill where they could get a better view of the town.

For a long time they said nothing, they just stood together in silence and looked upon the flaming ruins of what had been Nottingham.

“I hope they all managed to get out of there before the place went up…” Emma said quietly.

“Yeah, I hope so too.” Allan replied.


	34. Chapter 34

XXXIV

Upon waking from her involuntary slumber, Isabella of Gisborne was puzzled to find herself not where she had fallen into unconsciousness.

It was dark and dank where she was but it was no dungeon.

She was not at all pleased to discover that she was tied up. Both wrists were bound, as were both ankles. She was fortunate not to be gagged, she instantly took advantage of this privilege by protesting loudly.

"Untie me you savages! Untie me this instant!"

Her shouting went on for some time until Guy could listen to it no longer and finally raised himself up from where he had been sitting to go and attend her.

As she saw who it was that was walking towards her, she fell silent. Guy enjoyed this moment of peace for he knew that what was to follow would be anything but peaceful.

"You!" She spat hatefully, her eyes full of fury.

"Indeed sister, it is I." He replied with an accompanying smirk.

She took a moment to take him in, he was dressed casually in a loose fitting shirt and trousers (both black of course) and there was, to Isabella's surprise, not a scrap of leather on him, even his feet were bare. His left arm was in a sling and the left shoulder was strapped up.

"Where am I? What have you done to me?"

"You are in a cave not far from Sherwood. I brought you here." This was not strictly correct, Little John had done the bringing, (he'd carried her slung over his shoulder like a ragdoll). It had however, been Guy's idea to remove her from the castle before they left and so they had fetched her from the dungeons before going to hide in the cellar.

"So it was you who poisoned me!" she hissed.

"No, that honour goes to my wife." Guy chuckled.

"That witch is your wife?" Isabella asked incredulously.

Guy smiled proudly, "Indeed she is."

"I should've known you would end up with a sneaky, conniving witch for a wife."

Much to Isabella's consternation Guy continued smiling, "Yes, I'm very fond of her."

Isabella frowned; her spiteful remarks appeared to be missing their mark. "Why did you do it?" she asked angrily.

"Why did I do what? Drug you? Well, I just told you that that was not my doing but I can tell you that I fully condone what my wife did for it was in your and our best interests..."

"How dare you say that to me!"

"This was a fight that many did not come out of Isabella, had you got involved you could've been one of those lost." He felt a twinge in his shoulder as he said this and knew he had been very lucky to come out of it alive.

"Don't you dare say that it was to protect me!"

"Well what would you prefer to hear? That it was done to protect us from you?"

"I was locked up in the dungeon what could I have done?"

"Don't play the innocent Isabella, we both know that you could've manipulated your way out of there..."

She was silent for she could not refute that. Guy continued, "...and we both know from my execution what you would've done to me had you caught up with me." He gave her a sad smile.

She remained unmoved, "You deserve to die."

"That may be so but that day I did not die, just as at the castle yesterday I did not die either." He looked to the heavens as he said this in a silent prayer of thanks.

"I have been unconscious for over a day!?"

"For over two actually." He walked back over to where he had been sitting to fetch her some food, to the sound of an angry tirade of curses. He wondered why he bothered. She snatched the bread from his hands and gorged hungrily upon it, he enjoyed the tranquillity whilst she ate.

After she finished she narrowed her eyes and Guy knew he was in for another round...

"Why did you bring me here? You should've left me at the castle."

"My lady Sheriff, your castle lies in ruins." Guy felt a certain mean satisfaction in telling her this.

"What?" She had heard him perfectly; she just didn't want to believe him.

"Robin and his men decided they preferred to destroy it than give it to Prince John." He watched her closely enjoying the effect his words were having upon her.

"No! It can't be true!" She was shocked to the core.

"It is... but that's not all, it gets even better than that... Vaisey is dead." He informed her with a satisfied smile. It was a piece of news that he felt he should never tire of imparting, be the reaction from the recipient joy as with Allan and Emma yesterday or horror as with Isabella now.

"You are sure this time?" she knew that he was but still needed his confirmation.

"We used the poison I gave you." When he closed his eyes, he could see that last moment he had spent with Vaisey. He quickly opened his eyes and shook his head as if to shake the image away. "He didn't even make it out of the castle before it went up."

Isabella sunk to the floor and put her head in her hands.

"It is over." He announced, lowering himself to sit down crossed legged near to where she was now unhappily slumped.

"Why did you bring me here? Why didn't you just leave me there to die? You wanted me dead, that's why you gave me the poison isn't it?" She looked at him curiously.

"Yes but the situation has changed..." he replied vaguely, "I have my reasons for bringing you here."

“What reasons?” She demanded unhappily. He remained silent.

"What now Guy? What will you do? Are you just going to keep me here as your prisoner?" Her pouting face told him that she believed it to be so.

He sighed and for a few moments was silent. "Isabella, I am going to ask you a question and all I want is an honest answer, do you think you can do that much for me?"

She looked confused by this; she had not expected him to be like this with her and didn't know what to make of it. She studied him closely before nodding her assent.

"What would you do if you were free? If we let you go?" He looked directly at her.

"I would go to Prince John."

He sighed. He had known this would be her answer and although he was pleased that she had been honest, it still pained him to think of her with him.

"You would go to that monster?"

"He is not a monster!" She declared angrily.

"Oh but he is Isabella, believe me, he is. You have no idea..."

"Let me be the judge of that." She replied confidently.

"You could go home. With Thornton out of the way, you would be free to run your estate however you see fit."

Her face instantly scrunched up in disgust, "Go home to what? That man squandered everything we had, pathetic excuse for a husband that he was. He left me with nothing worth having."

"Is your freedom not worth having?" He asked her seriously, wondering if she understood what he was offering her at all.

"Freedom to do what? Run that miniscule estate on a pittance? No thank you. I'll leave scrimping on pennies to you and your outlaw friends here in the forest."

For a few moments, there was silence and she thought it was because she had got to him with her remark but that wasn't it.

He sighed and brought his fingers up to rub the bridge of his nose before he finally said, "I don't understand you Isabella, you claim to have hated me all these years because I arranged your marriage to Thornton and yet you would shackle yourself to somebody far more terrible of your own free will."

"He is nothing like my husband!" She replied indignantly.

"No, he is worse!" He shouted, "And you may think that he cares for you but believe me Isabella, when he has had his fill of you, he will toss you aside like he does with everybody else..."

"You are wrong! And you will not change my mind on this, so you best be getting back to that band of miscreants you belong with, for you are wasting your time with me!"

"So be it." He replied coldly and got up to walk away.

After a few moments' she called out to stop him whilst clumsily pushing herself up and on to her feet. "Guy, what will you do?"

He turned to face her again. "I will do as you wish. You want Prince John - you can have him but **_he_** will have to pay for you." He tried to repress it but she saw the beginnings of a smirk upon his lips.

It was then she realised he had planned this all along. Her face was thunderous. "You would sell me to him?"

"I believe 'demand a ransom for you' would be the correct term for it..." He no longer hid the smirk; there was no point in it.

"You wouldn't!" She looked upset now and he felt a small pang of pity.

"But you said it was what you wanted, you said you would go to him and yet he is our enemy." He reminded her.

She sighed; indeed she seemed to have conveniently forgotten that.

"Come now Isabella, be reasonable, did you think we would just let you go to him?"

It seemed that she had.

For a few moments there was silence but then she rallied, "He will hunt you, he will not stop until he finds you and when he does you will all hang." She said this with such malicious spite, it chilled Guy to the bone and it was then that he knew that it was time to put any hopes of anything approximating a reconciliation to bed.

He had known it would end this way between them. Yes, he had known it…

…but still a small part of him had hoped to appeal to her better nature, had hoped that she could be persuaded to forgive him or at least to understand him and maybe even choose a different path than the one she was hell bent on embarking on.

Then in the next moment, the invisible wall went back up. The wall that was always between them, that he used to keep her and others at a distance. She had not noticed that he had been so unguarded with her until this moment, the moment that he chose to build the invisible barrier up between them once more.

He folded his arms across his chest; his face was impassive like a mask. "He is free to do as he chooses but if he is as fond of you as you obviously seem to think he is, then **he will pay us**." He answered coldly and left.


	35. Chapter 35

XXXV

“Y’alright Giz?”

Allan-a-Dale had come to relieve his friend from his watch at the cave. Guy’s reply was an exasperated grunt.

“That bad eh?” Allan handed him an ale skin. Guy was grateful for it and muttered his thanks before taking a large swig out of it.

“I’m gatherin’ our captive is not in a good mood then?” Allan sat down next to him. Guy said nothing but his weary expression confirmed that Allan was indeed correct.

They sat for a few moments in a companionable silence. Allan was about to speak but was interrupted by the arrival of Sarah and Emma.

“Aww look at them sister! So sweet! They look like twins with their matching slings!” Emma ran towards the men, laughing brightly. Sarah looked at them both and tried to stifle her amusement but quickly gave in to the urge to laugh as well.

Both men scowled and looked at each other incredulously.

“Aww look they even have matching scowls!” Emma teased, a big smile lighting up her face as she spoke.

She was so happy to see the two friends sitting side by side, two invalids, both with sling and left shoulder strapped up, sharing an ale skin. She thanked the lord that one and all of the outlaws had made it back to camp and that she'd had the opportunity to witness them all reunited.

“You wanna be careful Emma, your brother-in-law has quite a temper and he’s not shy when it comes to tying ladies up if he has to!” Allan quipped. Guy smirked for it was too true, as his eyes met Sarah’s they exchanged a knowing smile.

Emma playfully hid behind her sister, “He’d have to get past Sarah first and I’d like to see him try!”

Guy merely got up from where he’d been sitting and reached with his good arm to pull his wife close before smiling at Allan and gesturing with a flick of the head that Emma was now his for the taking; “she's all yours Allan.”

Allan laughed before swiftly jumping up to chase his beloved; she didn’t get far or put up much resistance upon being caught. He celebrated his conquest with a peck upon her lips and then looked over his shoulder to see if they were being watched. He need not have worried, Guy was busy kissing his own lady and so Allan continued where he had left off.

Moments later, he saw Sarah leading her husband off into the forest.

“Go easy on him Sarah, he’s ailing!” He shouted grinning cheekily.

“Don’t forget to keep an eye on Isabella.” Guy winked at Allan before following his wife in the direction of the river.

 

* * *

 

“You are worried for her, I can tell.” Sarah snuggled against her husband, it would be dark soon and the first evening chills were cooling her skin.

She was of course referring to Isabella. “I know it’s what she wants and that the money from Prince John would be a great help to us but still…”

“It’s not really what anybody would want for their sister is it?” She interrupted.

“Not anybody who knows him, no.” He replied.

They were silent for a moment both lost in their thoughts. “Perhaps we should give her a few days to think about it, let it all sink in; maybe she’ll come to feel differently about it…”

Guy was frowning but then he looked upon his wife and could not stay downhearted for long. His lips curled into an amused smile, “Isabella thinks you are a witch - perhaps you could cast a spell on her…” he whispered before leaning in to kiss her slowly and reverently.

“I’ll see what I can do…” She replied before trailing off to bewitch him with her kisses.

 

* * *

 

As night fell over Sherwood, the outlaws congregated around the fire. 

They had already begun eating when Guy and Sarah turned up and were greeted by a chorus of catcalls. Everyone knew where they'd been. Guy smirked and rolled his eyes before pulling his blushing bride past everybody over to where Much was dishing out two bowls of food for them.

It was squirrel. Neither had missed it.

They thanked him and took their place with the others by the fire. Robin asked them about Isabella and received the tense reply he had expected from Guy. Tuck repeated what Sarah had said earlier about how it would be best to give her some time now to let it all sick in and reflect on her situation. Little John and Kate agreed with Tuck, although they, like everyone else seemed doubtful that the former Sheriff would change her mind.   

They were all glad when Much changed the subject and spoke of happy plans to visit Eve. 

They had come so close to death in the castle and he couldn't help but feel that this was like a second chance for them all, a chance for new beginnings, to do the things they had wanted to do and yet for whatever reason held back.

They all nodded in agreement, for who knew what tomorrow would bring for any of them, they had come much further than they had ever imagined...

and so all that was left to do was take each day as it comes and trust in God and be grateful for his mercy...

and live their lives in hope...

and love...

and friendship...

 **together**.

 


End file.
